The Story of Laura Lark Turner
by formerAnnie
Summary: Will's long lost sister believes her brother to be dead. Her road then leads her to piracy, fearful enemies, and adventures with the fabled Captain Jack Sparrow.
1. info and past

This is my first story on Fanfiction, so be easy on me. Still, I will gladly accept any corrections. This first part is just focusing on my character's personality and past. Enjoy!

Name: Laura Turner a.k.a. Laura Lark (Will's twin sister)  
Age: 20 (first movie)  
Looks: She has ocean blues eyes, long, curly golden brown hair, and she occasionally walks a little like Jack because she spent a little too much time around him. She wears short, laced black boots, black leggings, a slightly tattered, knee-high burgundy skirt, a ruffled maroon shirt with long sleeves, a black corset vest, and a brown bandanna. In addition to the branded "P", she also has a tattoo on her right arm picturing a lark singing in a tree next to the ocean. When she was young, Laura always looked older than she was, which made it easy to get out of several difficult situations.

Height: 5'3 1/2"  
Personality: Laura is extremely sarcastic, funny, thoughtful, and adventurous. Bottom line: a pirate with a gentle streak. She never particularly liked rum, but she became used to it after being with Jack for so long. She may hate Beckett for trying to eliminate the pirates, but Jack the monkey is her worst enemy. He is always trying to get her killed, but she always gets payback by using him for target practice. Laura often stands up for Jack and Will when they are in trouble, which occasionally has bad consequences. She is very much like Captain Jack in the sense that she sometimes turns serious things into a joke. On top of this, she walks, talks, and fights like him once in a while (the fighting part includes the running...but most of the time, she is brave). Because she is his sister, Laura is also very much like Will: she is brave and loyal. She wants to spend the rest of her life as pirate on the sea.

Past: Laura was raised with Will by her mother in England. Although their mother told them that their father was a merchant, Laura didn't believe it, while Will completely fell for it. After their mother died when they were twelve, Will left her to search for their father. Frustrated, Laura tried to follow him, but soon found out that the ship he was on was destroyed. Believing Will to be dead, she decided to search for her father in a more round-about way. For the first six months, she served a blacksmith in Tortuga, making a sword for herself with silver in the handle as payment. Next, Laura snuck aboard a ship which was soon captured by Davy Jones. To escape, she became Davy's "hardest" and most "loyal" crew-member, although she never swore herself to the Dutchman, fleeing in a boat after he became more trusting, and losing her sword on his deck in the process. Over the next two years, Laura joined the crew of a pirate ship, obtained her nickname and tattoo, and became the first mate. Unfortunately, the ship was captured by Lord Beckett. Bringing Laura out of the brig the next day, Beckett branded her a pirate after seeing her tattoo. She then helped the other pirates escape from Beckett's ship by picking the lock and went to Tortuga. When she was fifteen, Laura hid on a ship bound for Singapore. When she reached the strange country, she met Jack Sparrow and began traveling with him. Over a period of five years, they adventured together and Laura became even more famous as Jack's "partner". She was also the one who came up with the idea of how to escape from Cannibal Island the first time (which is how they know how to speak their language). When Laura was twenty, her and Jack traveled to Port Royal in a small, leaking boat because they needed a ship to begin their next adventure...

I'll get the first chapter of the first movie out soon, but I'm going camping this weekend, meaning I won't be working on the story during that time. Thanks for reading!


	2. Reunion

Author's note: By the way, Laura's weapons are the traditional sword and pistol. Also, I obviously don't own POTC. Thirdly, let me know if I made any grammar/spelling mistakes so that I can correct them in the future. Finally, I had to change and/or add a couple of details to the original script. Enjoy!

1: Reunion

As Port Royal came into view, their boat once again began filling with water. After five minutes of Laura dumping water out by herself, Jack finally came down from his perch on the tiny mast and helped to keep the boat afloat. Laura was slightly seized with fear when she joined the captain in saluting the hanged pirate skeletons and wondered why they had to find a ship in Port Royal of all places. Before they were within twenty feet of the dock, Laura was already swimming, while Jack once again stood on the mast and casually stepped onto the dock. As the twenty-year-old pirate continued to swim towards the shore, she exchanged nods with her captain just as he was stopped by a man who seemed to be a money-collector of some sorts, but Laura went on with reaching the shore since she knew that Jack would be fine.

--

Walking through the town, Laura noticed that very few people were in the streets; most likely at some fancy ceremony, knowing how those towns were. She also noted that the people who were in streets avoided her as if she had a contagious disease. After wandering around for about a half an hour, Laura passed by a blacksmith shop on a corner. Hearing the sound of soldiers coming down the street, she slipped into the shop and closed the door behind her. As she leaned against the door sighing with relief for not being discovered, she heard a familiar voice say "'ello, love" from inside the shop. Following the voice, Laura saw Jack attempting to remove a pair of handcuffs from his wrists.

"What did you do this time, Jack?" Laura asked as she pointed to a donkey-powered machine that would do the job of removing the handcuffs.

"What makes you think that I did something?" Jack asked in turn as the handcuffs were crushed by the wheels.

Suddenly, the door opened and the two pirates hid just as a young man came walking into the shop. From her hiding place, Laura saw the man, who seemed familiar for some reason, look at the drunk sleeping in the corner and say,

"Right where I left you", and to the hammer on the anvil, "not where I left you."

As Laura was imagining how stupid the boy was to be talking to tools, she saw him reach for Jack's hat on the table and Jack take out his sword to defend it.

"You're the one they're hunting. The pirate," the boy said.

After Jack responded, Laura simply sat down to watch the show. Jack had the surprisingly talented sword-fighter covered and the door was barred, so she simply had to wait for Jack to pull out his pistol and they would be on their way.

Unfortunately, it did not work out as Laura pictured it. While she was trying to figure out why the boy seemed so familiar, she heard the soldiers trying to break in.

"Jack!" she yelled, motioning to the vibrating door.

"Move away," Jack ordered as he pointed his pistol at the offending blacksmith.

"No." the boy stubbornly replied.

"Jack," Laura pleaded, "we don't have time for this. Please move." She told the young man.

Once again, the proper townsman said, "No! I cannot just step aside and let you escape."

As Jack cocked his gun, he stated, "This shot is not meant for you."

Suddenly, Laura heard something that sounded like shattering glass. She observed Jack lying face-down on the ground and the drunk standing there with a broken bottle in his hands.

Confused and afraid for Jack and herself, Laura turned to see if there was a way out, only to settle on a glare at the boy in the exit.

As she bent down to see if Jack was unconscious or just faking it, which was unlikely, the soldiers poured in and surrounded the two pirates.

After Jack was drug away, the Commodore walked over to Laura with several of his soldiers and introduced himself. Holding out his right hand for her to shake, he said,

"I believe anyone who survives an encounter with a pirate deserves recognition."

With a faint hope that she might get out of the situation, Laura hesitantly put her hand into his. As soon as she did this, he pushed her sleeve up a little, revealing the "P"-shaped brand.

"Oh," Norrington stated sarcastically, "well I suppose we now know why you're still in one piece,…what was your name again?" He then pushed Laura's sleeve up a little further, bringing her tattoo into view.

"Ah, yes, Laura Lark. I thought I recognized your description. Take her away," he said and Laura was dragged off to the jail.

--

That night in the cell, the two pirates heard the sound of cannons from the bay.

"I know those guns," Jack said, looking out the window. "It's the _Pearl_."

After she had looked at the dark silhouette of the offending ship in the bay, Laura commented,

"Well Jack, you wanted your ship. That chance may be just around the corner if we're not hanged at dawn."

Suddenly, a huge hole was created as a cannonball crashed into the side of the jail. As the dust cleared, Jack and Laura witnessed the prisoners in the other cell crawling out of the jail through the hole. Unfortunately, it was not big enough on their side to even put their heads through.

Jack then began trying to get the key-dog's attention just before two of the attacking pirates forced their way into the jail.  
"This ain't the armory," one of them observed.

"Obviously," Laura mumbled under her breath.

While the two pirates confronted Jack through the bars, Laura continued leaning against the wall of the cell.

After revealing that they were the undead pirates Jack had told Laura about, the visitors left.

"They could have at least busted the door open. Isn't there such a thing a charitable pirate anymore?" Laura asked sarcastically.

"Apparently not, love" Jack replied.

--

The next morning, the captain succeeded in breaking the dog bone into a rough pick shape, while his partner studied the hinges of their cage.

As Laura discovered a weakness in the door, they heard someone coming down the stairs.

Quickly, she backed up and casually leaned against the wall as the young blacksmith rushed into the jail.

"You, Sparrow!" the blacksmith called.  
"Aye?" Jack responded from his relaxed position on the floor.

"You are familiar with that ship, the _Black Pearl_?" the boy queried.

"I've heard of it," Jack carelessly replied, examining his fingernails.

"Where does it make berth?"

Laura coughed to cover up her shock at a townsman in the middle of the pirate-infested Caribbean not knowing a simple pirate legend.

"Where does it make berth?" Jack asked, voicing his own bewilderment. "Have you not heard the stories?"

When the boy cocked his head, Jack continued.

"Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sailed from the dreaded Isla de Muerta. It's an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is."

"The ship's real enough" the clueless man argued. "Therefore its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?"

"Why ask me?" Jack questioned, once again studying his fingernails.

"Because you're a pirate," came the reply.

Laura had had enough of being ignored, so she decided to join the conversation, invited or not.

"And you want to turn pirate yourself, is that it?" she lazily asked.

"Never!" the boy argued, before continuing. "They took Miss Swann."

"Oh, so it is that you've found a girl. I see." Jack commented. "Well, if you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart, you'll have to do it alone mate. I see no profit in it for me"

At this, Laura loudly cleared her throat.

"or my colleague here." Jack finished.

"I can get you out of here." The man stated.

"How's that? The key's run off," Jack said, nodding towards the empty hall.

Just as Laura was going to point out her discovery of the door's weakness to Jack, the blacksmith stated,

"I helped build these cells. These are half pin-barrel hinges. With the right leverage and the proper application of strength…the door will lift free."

"What's your name?" Jack asked, changing the subject entirely.

"Will Turner."

Laura widened her eyes at this revelation, but quickly returned to her casual position before either of the men noticed. She had never told anyone, even Jack, that there was more to her name than "Laura Lark" since her encounter with Davy Jones.

Completely unaware of his partner's reaction, the captain continued talking with Will.

"That would be short for "William", I imagine. Good, strong name. No doubt, named for your father, eh?"

"Yes," Will answered suspiciously.

"Uh-huh," Jack noted, clearly nearing the end of his negotiations. "Well, Mr. Turner, I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death I shall take you to the _Black Pearl_ and your bonny lass."

At this, Jack got up and put his hand through the bars for Will to shake. "Do we have an accord?"

"Agreed," Will submitted, shaking Jack's hand.

"Agreed. Get me out."

Will then lifted the door out of its hinges using the bench leaning against the jail wall.

"Hurry. Someone will have heard that," he warned.

"Not without my effects," Jack and Laura said in unison.

--

At the harbor, Jack pointed out two of the ships to Laura, who instantly understood the plan, but Will queried,

"We're going to steal a ship. That ship?" As he spoke, he motioned towards the ship called the _Dauntless_.

"Commandeer," Laura put in, "We're going to commandeer that ship."

"Nautical term," Jack finished for her. Then turning to Will interrogatingly, he asked, "One question about your business boy, or there's no use going. This girl- how far are you willing to go to save her?"

"I'd die for her," Will gallantly answered.

"Oh, good," the captain lightly commented, "No worries, then."

--

In the boat underwater, with Jack in the front, Laura in the middle, and Will in the back, the blacksmith commented,

"This is either madness or brilliance."

"It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide," Jack casually replied.

--

The pirates and the blacksmith then climbed aboard the _Dauntless_ and, as they all raised there weapons, Jack called out,

"Everyone stay calm. We're taking over the ship."

"Aye! Avast!" Will called out as well.

As the men laughed, the captain walked up to Jack and said,

"This ship cannot be crewed by two men and a woman. You'll never make it out of the bay."

"Son," Jack said, pointing his pistol at the captain's nose, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. And, if you didn't notice, this here would be Laura Lark. Savvy?"

They then lowered the crew into a boat and prepared to swing over to the other ship, the _Interceptor_, as Laura disabled the rudder chain. After successfully commandeering the ship, Jack called out to Norrington.

"Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way. We'd have had a hard of it by ourselves."

"Hmm," Laura thought out loud, "that usually doesn't work."

"It doesn't?" Will curiously asked.

"No. Usually, Jack ends up not being able to cut the grapnel ropes, while I can't figure out how to disable the rudder chain."

--

Later, while he was sharpening his sword, Will started explaining how he ended up in Port Royal to Jack. The captain acted as if he was only half listening, but Laura suspected that, like herself, he was all ears.

"When I was a lad living in England," Will began, "my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here, looking for my father."

"Is that so?" Jack questioned, acting like he didn't really care. Will then got to his point.

"My father, Will Turner. At the jail, it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father."

"I knew 'im," Jack agreed. "Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him Bootstrap or Bootstrap Bill."

"Bootstrap?" Will repeated doubtfully.

"Good man. Good pirate," Jack noted. "I swear you look just like him."

"It's not true," Will argued. "He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law."

"Oh, and is that what your mum told you?" Laura muttered.

"He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag," Jack said.

Turning defensive, Will pointed his sword at Jack.

"My father was not a pirate."

"Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again.  
"You didn't beat me," Will continued. "You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you."

"Well, that not much incentive for him to fight fair, then, is it?" Laura put in.

Laura simply watched the rest of the argument, knowing that Jack would get his way in end.

When it was over, she turned to Will and asked, "Don't you have any siblings that you left in England?"

"No," Will replied. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Laura defended, going down to the main deck to think.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! R&R please!


	3. A Loss for Words

2: Losing Words, Medallions, and Ships

Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights and LOTRRanger: Thank you for your advice and comments. They are always welcome.

Author's Note: -This- means that Laura is thinking to herself. It may seem random as I get further into the story, but it occasionally gets annoying (for me), constantly saying "he said", "she said", etc. You get the idea.

2: A Loss for Words

As they reached Tortuga, Jack gave Laura a rough-draft of his plan and went with Will into the town to find his original first mate, Gibbs, and a crew. Laura stayed aboard to guard the ship and drain the rum she had previously stashed away to hide it from Jack so that he wouldn't drink all of it himself.

--

The next morning, Laura walked down to the dock where Jack, Will, and Gibbs were examining the volunteer crew.

To Laura, Jack's first mate appeared to be a grizzly, weathered old man. If it was her choice, he could have been left in Tortuga for the rest of his life, but if Jack trusted him, she would trust him.

"Feast your eyes, Captain," Gibbs bragged to Jack. "All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will questioned doubtfully.

"You, sailor!" Jack summoned the crewmember with a parrot on his shoulder.  
"Cotton, sir," Gibbs confirmed.

"Mr. Cotton," Jack repeated quickly, "do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!"

"He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how," Gibbs explained.

-You're joking, right?-

"Mr. Cotton's …parrot," Jack said as the parrot looked at him. "Same question."

"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" the bird cried out.

"Mostly, we figure, that means 'yes'," Gibbs said.

"O'course it does. Satisfied?" the captain asked Will.

"Well, you've proved they're mad," Will answered.

"And what's the benefit for us?" a voice from under a hat queried.

In the middle of a quiet fit of laughter, Laura's stomach knotted up. That voice seemed unpleasantly familiar. Walking over to the owner of the voice with Jack, she removed the hat, revealing Anamaria, the owner of the leaking boat they had sunk in Port Royal. As soon as the hat was removed, the woman loudly slapped Jack.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either," Will asked.

"Oh, are we meeting up with some old friends, Jack?" Laura sarcastically questioned.

Ignoring his partner's comment, Jack answered Will's question.

"No, that one I deserved."

"You two stole my boat!" Anamaria accused, pointing her finger at Jack and Laura.

"Actually," Laura put in, only to get slapped in the other woman's fury.

-Mental note. Think twice before getting between Jack and one of his old "friends"-

"borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"But you didn't!" Anamaria argued.

"You'll get another one," Jack took over.

"I will," the woman confirmed.

"A better one," Will said.

"A better one," Jack repeated.

"That one," Will again put in.

"What one?" Jack asked, catching onto the trick and noticing that Will had meant the _Interceptor_. "That one?! Aye, that one. What say you?"

"Aye!" the crew shouted.

"No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir," Gibbs complained as the crew boarded the ship, seeming to have not noticed Laura.

"It'd be far worse not to have her," the captain suggested.

"Oh, Gibbs, I'd like you to meet my female traveling companion of five years," Jack introduced, gesturing towards Laura.

-Oh, great! Another superstitious sailor!-

"It's good to finally meet you, Master Gibbs," Laura said. Then noticing Gibbs' confusion, added, "You may have heard of me: Laura Lark?"

"Oh, yes. Same here," the older man suspiciously said.

"Don't worry," she suggested. "I'm not replacing you as the captain's first mate."

He seemed relieved.

-Oh, for once, playing the polite woman actually worked instead of the my-way-or-no-way pirate move-

--

That night, they were already into the open sea when a furious storm broke upon them.

As Laura was helping Will tie down a rope, she heard him ask Gibbs,

"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?"

Laura chuckled to herself since she already knew the story of that compass.

"Aye, the compass doesn't point north," Gibbs answered, "but we're not trying to find north, are we?"

Over the rumble of thunder and waves, Laura heard Gibbs advise Jack that they needed to drop canvas, only for Jack to deny it and soon explain that they were catching up to the _Pearl_.

Later into the night, the storm hit its peak. As one of the giant waves rushed across the deck, it caught Laura, who was tying down a cannon at the time. Feeling nothing but the crushing, cool water around her, she struggled to reach the surface, only to be battered down by more waves. Just as she was about to give up her efforts, she felt a strong arm grasp her waist and pull her back to the surface. As soon as they reached the deck, Laura knew that her first priority was to tie down the cannon before she looked to see who her rescuer was. After she secured the cannon, she grasped one of the ropes to steady herself, still coughing up water.

"Do you always get yourself into positions like that?" Will suddenly asked, standing next to her.

"No, usually I'm the one doing the saving." Turning to her clueless brother, she added, "I suppose you're the one who saved me?"

"I suppose," he answered.

"Well then, I owe my deepest thanks. I'm not exactly wanting to go to Davy Jones just yet, if ever," Laura said.

"You're welcome," Will said in turn.

Without waiting for further conversation, Laura went back to securing loose ropes and cannons.

-I still haven't forgiven you for forgetting your little twin sister and best childhood friend, Mr. Turner.-

--

By the next morning, they had successfully navigated the _Interceptor_ into the cove at the Isla de Muerta.

"Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," Gibbs said as their ship broke the topmast of a sunken craft underneath them.

"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will asked after watching Jack close it due to Cotton staring at him.

"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta," Gibbs explained. "That was before I met him, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl."

"What?" Will asked, shocked at this revelation which was new to him. "He failed to mention that."

-Not surprising-

"Well," Gibbs continued, "he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

"Ah," Will realized. "So that's the reason for all the…", he said, while mimicking Jack's swaying movements.

-I take offence to that.-

"Reason's got nothing to do with it," Gibbs argued. "Now Will, when a man is marooned he is given a pistol with a single shot: one shot. Well it won't do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three days of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look real friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."

"Barbossa," Will suggested.

"Aye," Laura confirmed at the same time as Gibbs before continuing on. "Yes, Barbossa, who is now one of the most feared pirates on the seven seas." When the two men looked at her, openly confused, she added, "This is all old news to me. Do you think that I spent five years as Jack's partner without learning anything of him?"

She sighed in exasperation. It was not the first, second, or third time she had heard story-tellers preach the tale of Captain Jack, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"How did Jack get off the island?" Will further questioned Gibbs.

"Well, I'll tell ye," Gibbs answered, going back his story-teller's voice. "He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft."

-Roped sea turtles? Amazing how far such a tale can spread!-

"He roped a couple of sea turtles?" Will asked.

"Aye," Gibbs validated, "sea turtles."

"What did he use for rope?"

-Ha! That's a Turner for ya!-

As Gibbs was trying to find an answer, Jack came up behind them and stated,

"Human hair…from my back. Let go of the anchor!" he called to the crew.

"Young Mr. Turner, Laura, and I are to go ashore," Jack continued.

"Captain!" Gibbs called. "What if the worst should happen?"

"Keep to the code," Jack said.

"Aye, the code."

-That's less than comforting.-

--

Less than a half an hour later, the trio was in a boat and about twenty feet inside the entrance of the cave.

After seeing a skeleton with a sword stuck in its back, Will quickly asked,

"What Code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?"

"Pirate's Code," Jack answered. "Any man that falls behind…is left behind."

"No heroes amongst thieves, eh?" Will quoted.

"You know," Laura joined in, "for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one. Sprung two pirates from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga…"

As they all looked down at the gold at the bottom of the water-filled passage, Jack finished, "…and you're completely obsessed with treasure."

"That's not true," Will defended as he helped pull the boat ashore. "I am not obsessed with treasure."

Looking over a ridge of rock, Laura saw a large gathering of pirates in the treasure room with a woman standing behind a large, nearly-filled chest. Seeing a man standing next to the woman, preaching to the pirates, Laura guessed that his smug, dark, partially evil personage was Barbossa.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," Jack said.  
After less than a minute of listening to Barbossa, Will tried rushing into the room beyond their lookout, only to be pulled back by his two companions.

"Jack!" Will complained.

"Not yet," Jack whispered. "We wait for the opportune moment."

Barbossa's gruff voice could be heard even as they moved away to where they wouldn't be heard themselves.

"881 we found but despaired of ever finding the last."

"When's that?" Will questioned. "When it's of greatest profit to you?"

"May I ask you something?" Jack responded. "Have I ever given you reason not the trust me? Do us a favor; I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid."

After hiding most of the pirates' oars, Jack slowly walked away, believing that his companion would be right behind him. Meanwhile, Laura tried reassuring Will.

"Listen, Will. I know you seemingly only met me a few days ago," Will cocked his head at the word "seemingly", "but I have been around Jack for five years now, so I am probably one of the most qualified people to tell you this: Even if his actions at the time may seem superfluous and wrong or odd at the time, Jack has a plan…half the time. -I hope- That is why I stand by most of his decisions, including this one."

At that Will bent down to get something.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"What?"

Suddenly, Will got up and swung around with an oar destined to collide with Laura's head.

Never the type to be unconscious for long, if at all, Laura faintly heard what people were saying after about a minute of blackout, when they were loud enough:

"Who's to blame?" one of the pirates in the other room was asking. "Every decision you've made has led us from bad to worse."

-Clearly, he's talking to Barbossa.-

Finally, Laura's head stopped hurting enough for her to get up and stagger towards a just-conscious Jack around the corner.

"The medallion!" she heard Barbossa cry out as she helped Jack up to lean on the previously offending oar. "She's taken it! Get after her, you feckless pack of ingrates!"

-Will must have somehow stolen his beloved away. Definitely a Turner move.-

Heading towards the boats with Jack in tow, Laura heard the pirates, who had beaten them to the water-crafts, question the disappearance of their oars.

"Time to act casual, I suppose?" she asked her captain.

Jack grunted his approval.

"You," one of the pirates, called Ragetti, said, pointing at Jack.

"You're supposed to be dead!" another one called Pintel exclaimed.

"Am I not?" Jack idiotically asked as Laura, appearing serious, poked him to make sure he was alive. "Oh."

They both turned around to head the other way, only to be faced with more than half a dozen knives and pistols. When they tried going the way they had previously attempted, their chances of not getting poked or shot lessened greatly.

"Palulay," Jack blurted out before looking at Laura for help.

"Palu-li-la-la-lulu," Laura attempted. She clearly was not fairing any better than the captain.

Jack tried again.

"Parlili."

That didn't work either as the pirates looked at them, clearly confused. Then, Jack and Laura began going back and forth.

"Parsnip."

"Pasley."

"Par…partner."

"Partner."

Suddenly, Ragetti broke the cycle of confusion.

"Parley?" he suggested.

"Parley!" Jack cried out in relief. "That's the one. Parley! Parley!"

"Parley?" Pintel asked, clearly annoyed with Ragetti's ready-to-help attitude. "Down to the depths whatever man that thought up 'parley'!"

"That would be the French," Laura answered as she grinned at Jack.

-


	4. Misplaced Medallions

Thank you Kairi's-twin, Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights, LOTRRanger, and swish101 for your reviews!

3: Misplaced Medallions

Just then, Barbossa walked into the encounter and noticed Jack.

"How the blazes did you get off that island?" he asked, suggesting the time when he marooned Jack ten years before.

"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate," Jack answered before continuing after seeing Barbossa's confusion. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Ah, well," Barbossa responded, "I won't be making that mistake again. Gents," he then called to his crewmembers, "you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow? Kill him."

"Um, Jack?" Laura asked, grabbing a hold of her friend's arm. "The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" Jack questioned Barbossa as guns were cocked around him and his frightened companion.

"Hold your fire!" Barbossa gruffly ordered the crew.

The guns and knives were reluctantly withdrawn.

"You know whose blood we need?" the enemy half-asked and half-stated.

"I know whose blood ye need," Jack replied.

-No, he can't mean…Will. Well, I suppose he can, but I can't let that happen even if I am still mad-

Sparrow and Lark were then roughly herded onto the boats, where Laura began whispering to Jack,

"I know I usually don't question your actions, Jack, but right now I'm a little worried about what you're planning to do."

"What do you mean?" Jack carelessly asked.

"Oh, now come on, Jack," Laura continued to whisper. "This hasn't gone exactly as you planned, and now, to get out of your snag, you're going to use Will as leverage."

"You of all people should know that I am perfectly capable of easily improvising," Jack answered.

"Fine," Laura gave in, "but I hope, for your sake, that your new plan doesn't hurt Mr. Turner.

As Jack opened his mouth to make a comment, Laura interrupted.

"From what you've told me, I am aware that his blood is necessary to lift the curse and make all things right, but…" She was cut off as the boat bumped against the side of the _Pearl_ and they were pushed onto the deck.

Laura soon found herself examining the Captain's Cabin aboard the _Black Pearl_ as Jack began haggling with Barbossa.

After Jack explained himself, Barbossa stated,

"So you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need and watch you sail away in my ship?"

"Hmm?" Laura queried in middle of looking out the window. The way Barbossa had worded that sentence had confused her slightly.

"No," Jack argued, ignoring Laura. "I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on my ship and then I'll shout the name back to you. Savvy?"

Barbossa casually continued the argument.

"But that still leaves us with the problem of me standing on some beach with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need."

-I hope Jack is able to keep up with this-

"Of the two of us," Jack responded, "I am the only one who hasn't committed mutiny, therefore…my word is the one we'll be trusting. Although…I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you. Funny ol' world, innit?"

While saying this, Jack bit into an apple before offering it to Barbossa.

Eager at that point to change the subject, Barbossa asked,

"And who is this young woman you've brought with you, Jack?"

Laura looked up at the pirate from examining the random items in the room.

Clearing her throat, she looked to Jack for help.

"Uh, Barbossa," Jack took over. "This is my partner, Laura Lark."

"It doesn't sound like a real name now does it?" Barbossa suggested, facing Laura.

"Well now," the girl said, taking a step closer to her foe, "not all pirates are known by their true names, are they? In fact, some, like myself, keep their names secret from all those whom they encounter to protect themselves from fanatical madmen such as yourself. Savvy?"

Jack, who was nearly surprised by no one, sat there with his jaw slightly ajar and his eyes a bit wider than normal at his companion's little speech. Barbossa was also slightly taken aback, but before he could react, the Bo'sun entered the apartment.

"Captain," he said, "we're coming up on the _Interceptor_."

-Oh, so that's where Will went. He ditched us for the ship just to be caught again.-

Following Jack and Barbossa onto the deck, Laura spotted a ship, apparently the _Interceptor_, on the horizon.

As Barbossa was looking through his spyglass to estimate their challenge, Jack blocked his view and began trying to save his own skin, a move that had left Laura to fend for herself in the past.

-Here goes nothing-

"I'm having a thought here, Barbossa," Jack began as Laura edged her way, unnoticed, towards the side of the ship. "What say we run up a flag of truce? I scurry over to the _Interceptor_, and I negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that? Oh, and you can keep Laura here to make sure I don't try to do something behind your back." At this he brought Barbossa's gaze to Laura who had nearly made it to the edge.

-So much for that idea. Why am I not completely furious with Jack right now? Oh, probably because I'm so used to it by now.-

"Now you see, Jack," Barbossa stated, getting back to business, "that's exactly the attitude that lost you the _Pearl_. People are easy to search when they're dead.

To the Bo'sun, he added, "Lock them in the brig."

--

Below deck, Laura and Jack were shoved into the water-carpeted brig.

"Apparently there's a leak," Jack pointed out.

As soon as they were alone, Laura turned to her companion in frustration.

"What was that? Oh, yes, the hundredth time you tried saving your own skin!"

Even though her words had the somewhat stinging quality she had intended it was obvious, even to Jack, that she didn't have her heart in it.

"Don't worry, luv. We'll get out of this situation just like every other time," he said reassuringly.

"I hope it's not going to turn out like that Cannibal Island incident. That time, I at least had an idea of how to escape. However, Barbossa seems to require an opponent more experienced in his tactics," the young woman stated, already feeling her well-hidden admiration for the captain coming back.

Suddenly, the entire ship was slowed to an abrupt stop as it parked alongside the _Interceptor_ to initiate the battle.

The sound of leaders crying out the word "fire" could be heard on both ships.

Laura jumped out of the way as forks, nails, and other odds and ends made holes in the side of the _Pearl_.

Quickly noticing that the cell door's lock had been broken by one of the fragments, she hurriedly rushed out and onto the deck, knowing that Jack would find his way soon enough. She couldn't help but laugh to herself at Jack calling out,

"Stop blowing holes in my ship!"

The deck was insanity as the crew prepared grapple hooks and other such items for boarding the other craft.

Mixing her Turner bravery and Sparrow ingenuity, Laura grabbed a loose rope, swinging over onto the _Interceptor_ and barely landing on her feet.

She just caught a glimpse of Will running to the lower deck when she decided to follow him with all haste.

"What are you looking for?" she asked as soon as she had reached Will's position below decks.

"The medallion! I can't find it!" he responded with slight panic in his voice.

Before Laura could do anything else, she heard an explosion just as she and Will were hurled to the floor.

Getting up to take in the situation, the pirate noted that something had fallen over the exit, blocking the way out, and the hull of the ship was damaged and leaking heavily, slowly filling the room.

Will was attempting to get the attention of those above by hitting the hatch with one of the loose supports.

"Hey! Below!" he called out as Laura continued to search for the medallion.

Will's alarm proved to be somewhat fruitful as Elizabeth appeared on the other side of the hatch.

"Will!" she cried out in shock over the situation.

"Elizabeth!" Will responded.

"Get us out of here!" Laura called, having given up the search for the medallion since the monkey had taken it.

-If I had found it, there would have been a better chance for me to save Will. It would blow my cover, but at least my brother would be safe….Would? Well, it's not going to happen, now!-

"I can't move it!" Elizabeth said before she was dragged away by the attacking pirates.

"Elizabeth!" Will shouted.

The water was at Laura's shoulders.

"Give it up, Will!" Laura yelled at her brother. "She's captured, along with probably all of the crew, and there's a very likely chance that we are going to drown. Now, instead of crying out for your beloved, which would be a lovely thing in any other case, do us a favor and help me find a way for us not to drown! Oh, yes! I didn't I mention that, out of all other deaths, I would least want to die by way of the lack of air."

By the time Laura was done ranting, they were swimming in the room with only about a foot of air space left.

After pushing on the support beams in a final attempt, they both realized that there was no noise coming from the deck. The pirates were going to blow the ship they were on, or in more like it.

In hopes that they wouldn't be blown up, the siblings took one last breath before they went to the bottom of the ship.

A second after that, Laura felt the explosion propel her through the water.

Swimming to the surface, she found that she and Will were within twenty feet of the _Pearl_.

As the woman crawled up the side of the ship behind Will, she heard him demand the release of Elizabeth.

Laura flopped onto the deck, relieved to be alive.

"What's in your head, boy?" Barbossa asked.

"She goes free!" Will repeated. He was pointing Jack's confiscated pistol at the mutinous pirate.

"You've only got one shot, and we can't die," Barbossa stated.

"Don't do anything stupid," Jack begged from his guarded spot next to his former first mate.

"You can't," Will said to Barbossa, ignoring Jack's plea before continuing as he put the gun to his own head. "I can."

"Will, I think that would be considered stupid," Laura cautioned her brother.

"Like that," Jack said, reciprocating with Laura's statement.

"Who are you?" Barbossa questioned Will.

Jack and Laura both rushed up to Barbossa, but Jack started talking first.

"No one," he said. "He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though…eunuch."

"So," Laura continued, "he's no one important. No reason to go further into his identity."

"My name is Will Turner," Will said, completely ruining whatever advantage Jack and Laura had. "My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins."

"He's the spitting image of ol' Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us!" Ragetti cried out.

-Oh, good. I'm not the only one who thinks so-

"On my word do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker," Will warned.

"Name your terms, Mr. Turner," Barbossa gave in.

At this, Jack and his companion began pointing at themselves, hoping that Will would save them.

"Elizabeth goes free," Will ordered.

"Yes, we know that one," the _Pearl's _captain confirmed. "Anything else?"

"And the crew," Will continued, purposefully ignoring the two desperate pirates behind Barbossa. "The crew are not to be harmed."

-Well, that's an insult-

"Agreed," Barbossa said, grinning from ear to ear. "Until then, you'll have accommodations in the brig."

While everyone else was being herded below decks, Laura pushed her way to Barbossa.

"Barbossa, I have an offer for you." As he turned his attention to her, she continued. "In private, if you don't mind."

In the Captain's Cabin, Laura began talking as the other pirate sat down in a chair.

"From what I have heard of you, you are a ruthless man who does not care if a hundred people die as long as he gets what he wants. What if I told you that you didn't have to use Will?"

Barbossa raised an eyebrow at the idea.

"And how exactly would that happen, Miss Lark? There's only one Turner left," he stated.

"As you said," Laura responded, "Laura Lark doesn't seem like a real name, does it?"

Barbossa began to seem genuinely interested.

-At least it would save Will-

"My real name is, in fact, Laura Turner, Captain."

"And how would this profit me?" Barbossa queried.

"Well, you want to get back at Jack -I have no idea for what- in every possible way, right?" Laura haggled. "This would mean that I get to save my brother, while you get to have your revenge. I personally think that it is quite fair."

"You see, Miss…Turner," Barbossa answered, "I am only concerned with lifting the curse. After we reach our present destination, I will quickly deal with you and Jack."

"Fine, suit yourself," Laura finalized. "However, I must ask you not to tell anyone of my identity."

"No one else knows of your real name?" Barbossa asked, actually curious, this time.

"Very few people know that I really am Will's sister. The ones who do are safely trapped on a ship for the most part," she answered. Barbossa was slightly confused by the last part of her statement.

After a moment of thought, he replied.

"Very well, although I highly doubt that you will survive this next little adventure, your secret is my secret."

"Thank you for displaying at least that much honor," the girl said.

"I shall escort you down to the brig where you can say a final goodbye to your oblivious brother," he stated with a cruel smile.

A minute later, she walked into a cell with the other pirates. When the gate closed behind her, she turned around to make another effort.

"You're making a terrible mistake, Barbossa."

"Oh, I don't think I made any mistake at all, Miss…Lark."

The other prisoners were rather confused by Barbossa's hesitance in saying Laura's name as the girl glared at the man's retreating back.

"What was that about?" Jack queried.

"Nothing," Laura quickly said.

About a half an hour later, they were escorted to the main deck where a plank had been fixed to the side of the ship.

As Elizabeth was coaxed onto to the board, Will pushed through the crowd and yelled at Barbossa, who responded,

"Don't dare impugn me honor, boy. I agreed she'd go free, but it was you who failed to specified when or where." The pirates laughed and Will was gagged before the pirate turned to Elizabeth. "Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?"

The pirates agreed.

"So I'll be having that dress back before you go," he said to the British girl.

As she ripped off the outer part of the dress, leaving an actually rather comfortable-looking white underdress, she addressed Barbossa while tossing it to him.

"It goes with your black heart."

"Ooh, it's still warm," the captain mocked.

"Too long!" the Bo'sun complained before he bounced the plank, causing Elizabeth to fall into the water.

Jack was then dragged up to the plank.

"I'd really hoped we were past all this," he suggested to Barbossa.

"Jack…Jack," Barbossa nonchalantly said. "Did ya not notice? That be the same little island that we made you Governor of on our last little trip."

"I did notice," Jack corrected.

Barbossa continued.

"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape…but I doubt it." Unsheathing his sword and pointing it at Jack he coaxed, "Off you go."

Jack was buying time.

"Last time, you left me a pistol with one shot.

"By the powers, you're right," Barbossa exclaimed. "Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward."

After the pistol was brought, Jack continued bargaining.

"Seeing as there's two of us, a gentleman…would give us a pair of pistols."

"It'll be one pistol as before," the other man argued, "and you can be the gentleman and shoot the lady and starve to death yourself."

The pistol was thrown overboard, soon followed by Jack.

The attention was once again on Laura.

-Bugger-

As she was pushed onto the plank with her hands tied in front of her, she decided to try bargaining again.

"You know, Barbossa," she stated, "the boy is only half Turner."

All she got was a confused look from Will and the pirates and an annoyed stare from Barbossa.

Shrugging her shoulders, she jumped into the water and swam for the island.

Thanks for reading!


	5. Betrayal and Confusion

Thanks Kairi's-twin and Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights for your reviews! Your comments are always very professional.

Author's Note: By the way, the pairing is, technically, Jack and Laura…however, as I am seeing that their relationship is going nowhere far too soon, just think of this as more of an adventure story than romance, although I would like to pair them up somehow at some point. Feel free to review and give suggestions.

4: Betrayal and Confusion,

As she crawled onto the lonely beach, shaking the ropes off of her wrists, Laura took in her surroundings as Jack complained,

"That's the second time I've watched that man sail away with my ship."

The island was probably small enough to easily walk around with palm trees in the middle, creating an agreeable shade.

Elizabeth was looking longingly after the _Pearl_ as it sailed off into the horizon.

Laura strolled over to her brother's love interest and put on a friendly, carefree smile.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced, Miss Swann," she said, trying to have an at least somewhat good start with Will's apparent love. "I am Laura Lark, Jack's companion and friend of five years."

"Although I don't believe this is exactly the proper time for formal introductions, Miss Lark," Elizabeth answered, "I suppose there hasn't been any time like that for the past several days."

"I have to agree. And, by the way, you can call me Laura. My reputation isn't that far spread," Laura responded.

"Well, in that case, you may call me Elizabeth."

Laura was delighted to make a new friend who didn't just see her as a pirate, at least on the outside.

"See?" she said. "We'll be inseparable friends before the day is done!"

"I wouldn't quite go that far," the governor's daughter countered as she began following Jack into the thin forest.

-Well, that just made me feel guilty-

Laura took in one last gaze at the horizon before slowly following the other two prisoners.

According to what Jack had told her while confiding in her, he had been able to barter his way off last time.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to be home.

By the time Laura caught up, Elizabeth was arguing with Jack.

-This is going to be a long day-

"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then," she disputed.

"To what point and purpose, young missy?" Jack countered. "The _Black Pearl_ is gone and unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice…unlikely…young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him."

Elizabeth kept harping on the captain as he knocked on tree trunks and hopped up and down on the ground.

"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow. You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not? How did you escape last time?"

Laura barked a laugh at this. The other woman was not going to like the explanation.

"Last time…I was here and drunk a grand total of three days, all right? Last time," Jack continued while opening a hidden cellar full of rum, "the rumrunners used this island as a cache. Came by, and I was able to barter a passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that."

Jack promptly emerged from the cellar with three full rum bottles, handing one to Laura and another to Elizabeth.

Laura instantly popped the cork off and took a swig.

"So that's it, then?" Elizabeth stated in disbelief. "That's the secret grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?"

"Welcome to the Caribbean, luv," Jack answered, walking back towards the beach.

Lark followed next to the grouchy Elizabeth.

"You should know that many stories are exaggerated over a time of telling," she encouraged the other woman with small effort. "If a story stays the same, it gets boring…so, new chapters are added to it."

She was utterly ignored.

-So much for being friends-

--

Later that night, they built a fire and drank rum to their hearts' content.

Jack and Elizabeth began running around singing "A Pirate's Life for Me", while Laura tended the fire.

After a few verses, the two runners collapsed on the ground.

"When I get the_ Pearl_ back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew," Jack bragged, suggesting the song they had just been singing, "and we'll sing it all the time!"

"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main," Elizabeth joined in.

If she had been a bit more sober, Laura would most likely have caught the fact that Elizabeth was almost too enthusiastic over the whole situation.

"Not just the Spanish Main, luv," Jack said. "The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld. Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails that's what a ship needs but what a ship is...what the Black Pearl really is...is freedom."

"Jack," Elizabeth addressed the pirate, "it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island."

"Oh, yes," Jack said, putting his arm around Elizabeth's shoulder. "But the company is infinitely better than last time. The scenery has definitely improved."

Laura felt something welling up inside of her that she couldn't identify as she stared at Jack and Elizabeth.

"Mr. Sparrow," Elizabeth finally interrupted, partially getting up before sitting down again, "I'm not entirely sure that I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk."

Laura chugged the rest of her rum and passed out before she could hear the rest of the conversation and the toast.

--

The piratess awoke to the smell of smoke in the air.

Sitting up, she saw Elizabeth tossing kegs of rum into a gigantic fire among the trees.

Turning around, she witnessed Jack just sitting up from being passed out himself.

Both of them bounded up, waving their arms.

"No! Not good! Stop! Not good!" Jack cried out. "What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade, the rum!"

"Yes, the rum is gone," Elizabeth confirmed.

"We have no way off of this island, Elizabeth," Laura said, trying to keep from yelling, "and you're burning the only thing that keeps Jack from going completely crazy?"

"Why is the rum gone?" Jack continued.

"One," Elizabeth countered the captain, "because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me, do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?"

"That's almost exactly why I avoided thinking of a signal in the first place, you half-witted slip-of-a-girl!" Laura yelled.

-What am I talking about? I'm barely an adult, myself.-

"But why is the rum gone?" Jack repeated.

Sitting down on the sand, facing the ocean, Elizabeth explained,

"Just wait, you pirates. You give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye out and then you will see white sails on that horizon."

Boiling with frustration, Jack pulled the pistol out and pointed it at Elizabeth, who completely ignored him. After a second, he relented and put his gun back before walking off along the beach.

Laura found herself watching his every step. Then, shaking herself, she glared at the other girl and stalked off in an ever so slightly different direction than the captain.

From a distance, she heard Jack mimicking,

"Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack. Must've been terrible for you," prior to yelling generally at Elizabeth, "Well it bloody is now!"

Laura walked up next to Jack, unnoticed.

When she looked to where her friend was gazing, the British ship called the _Dauntless_ could seen at a distance.

"There'll be know living with her after this," he whined.

Laura simply sighed at Jack's new obsession.

--

"But we've got to save Will," Elizabeth complained after the group had been picked up by the British and they had just arrived on the ship.

"No," the man who appeared to be the governor argued as the pirates followed the group to the helm's stairs. "You're safe now. We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!"

"Jack," Laura whispered to her leader, "Port Royal means back to being hanged. I hope you have a couple of ideas."

"Then we condemn him to death," the governor's daughter contradicted.

"The boy's fate is regrettable," the older man replied, "but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy."

"To rescue me. To prevent anything from happening to me," she continued.

"If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion," Jack interrupted. "The _Pearl_ was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it," he continued, turning to the Commodore. "The _Black Pearl_. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?"

"By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself," Norrington responded.

"Commodore," Elizabeth pleaded, "I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift."

Laura took a slight step back.

"Elizabeth," Mr. Swann said. "Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"

"I am," she answered.

"A wedding!" Jack exclaimed. "I love weddings…drinks all around!"

Then he noticed the sailors staring at him.

"Ah, I know. "Clap him in irons," right?"

"Mr. Sparrow," the Commodore replied, "you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Muerta, while your partner here stays in the brig for a little while. You two will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase "silent as the grave." Do I make myself clear?"

"Inescapably clear," was the reply.

"Thanks, Jack," Laura muttered as she was shoved off to the brig.

Once she was alone in her cage, a conversation with herself quickly commenced.

"Out of all the pirates in the entire Caribbean, why did I have to be stuck in this bloody cell? Oh, probably because I idiotically decided to trust Captain Jack Sparrow for the hundredth time with unfortunate consequences!"

Laura continued to ramble like this until two of the British came to fetch her and brought her to the deck.

Climbing into the boat which she was directed to, next to Jack and behind Norrington, Laura began to stare at the water as their British-filled craft floated towards the Isla de Muerta cave.

-If those pirates are "undead", than is there a reason why they couldn't just walk under the water?-

As the sailors stationed the boat, among others, near the entrance, Norrington began talking.

"I don't care for the situation. Any attempt to storm the caves could turn into an ambush."

"Not if you're the one doing the ambushing," Jack argued.

Laura purposefully decided to not try deciphering the rest of Jack's explanation.

-Not my day-

"Nothing I'd lament being rid of," she heard the Commodore answer.

"Now, to be quite honest with you," Jack continued, "there's still a slight risk for those aboard the _Dauntless_ which includes the future Mrs. Commodore."

-Well, I guess I'm stuck with Jack. I might as well just go with the flow-

Jack and Laura were allowed to take one of the boats into the cave.

"Jack," the girl began, "I suppose I should apologize for not trusting you. I ought to know better than anyone that you tend to do the unexpected."

"You have always shocked me with your trust of me, luv. I guess it's about time you had a few doubts," Jack replied.

"Yes, well you earned it."

Even Laura didn't know whether she was saying that he earned the trust or the doubt.

Grounding the boat, the duo walked towards the cave's main room.

It was almost exactly like the last time, except it was Will standing behind the chest instead of Elizabeth.

Jack begun pushing through the crowd muttering apologies, followed by Laura.

"Begun by blood…" Barbossa preached.

"Pardon me," Laura whispered as she bumped into one of the pirates.

"…by blood un…"

Barbossa never finished as he noticed the intruders.

"Jack!" Will exclaimed.

"S'not possible," Barbossa stated.

"Not probable," Jack corrected, making his way to the front of the group.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Will queried.

"She's safe," Jack answered, "just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we're all men of our word really except for Elizabeth who is, in fact, a woman. So is Laura, except I'm not aware of her making any promises during this little venture."

"Shut up!" Barbossa scolded. "You're next. And your new partner, Miss…Lark, hasn't exactly been helpful either, so I may just kill her too."

"You don't want to be doing that, mate," Jack warned as Barbossa bent over, about to slit Will's throat.

"No, I really think I do," Barbossa argued.

Laura rushed forward as Jack's former first mate was once again leaning over Will with the knife in his hand, only to be held back by one of the pirates.

"Your funeral," Jack relented.

Clearly annoyed, Barbossa stood up and looked at Jack.

"Why don't I want to be doing it?"

"Well, because," Jack started before slapping off the hand of the pirate holding him back, "…because the _HMS Dauntless_, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore, waiting for you."

-I hope Jack's plan involves me not getting killed-

"Just hear me out, mate," Jack continued. "You order your men to row out to the _Dauntless_. They do what they do best. Robert's your Uncle, Fannie's your Aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings of your very own fleet. 'Course you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the _Pearl_? Name me Captain, I'll sail under your colors, I'll give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as…Commodore Barbossa. Savvy?"

"I s'pose in exchange, you want me not to kill the whelp?" Barbossa asked, motioning to Will.

"No, no, no, not at all by all means, kill the whelp," Jack answered.

-I can't let that happen! I know I just apologized for not trusting him, but I will not let my brother be killed by some madman-

Jack continued talking.

"Just not yet. Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment. For instance…after you've killed Norrington's men…every…last…one."

Jack had picked up and dropped several of the cursed coins, but Laura and, she noticed, her brother saw that he had kept one.

"You've been planning this from the beginning. Ever since you learned my name," Will accused.

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"And you didn't tell me?" Laura burst out. "So everything you explained to me was a lie?"

"No," Jack pretended offence, "I just left things out."

"And what of your dear friend, here, Jack?" Barbossa questioned.

"Oh," Jack replied, "well if she could be my first mate, I would be quite content, but she isn't exactly part of the negotiations, as she made so clear."

-Alright, maybe it's not what I think. Maybe this is just part of his little scheme. I hope-

"I want fifty percent of your plunder," Barbossa demanded.

"Fifteen," Jack haggled.

"Forty."

"Twenty-five. And I'll but you the hat. A really big one…Commodore?"

"We have an accord," Barbossa agreed, shaking Jack's hand.

"All hands to the boats!" Jack called out, only to be met by silence. "Apologies. Your give the orders."

"Gents…" Barbossa lazily said, "take a walk."

-I was right about that?-

"Not to the boats?" Jack worriedly asked as most of the pirates walked away and Laura's arms were tied behind her back.

-Definitely not my day-

Jack didn't even object to his partner being tied up.

Two pirates stood to guard Laura and Will, who had stood next to her.

Barbossa then walked up to the girl and casually began,

"Well Miss…Lark, it seems that you get to be my prisoner for a little while longer, anyway."

Before he strolled over to lean on the chest, the pirate appeared to study his captives.

-Oh, don't even-

Thanks for reading! R&R, please.


	6. NearDeath Experiences

Thank you Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights, johnnydeppluver89, and VampiresRule103 for your reviews!

5: Near-Death Experiences

A few minutes later, Jack was rummaging through the treasure strewn everywhere as Barbossa commented,

"I must admit, Jack, I thought I had ye figured. But it turns out that you're a hard man to predict."

-Really? I didn't notice. Hmm, five pirates, not including Barbossa…we might be able to get out of this-

"Me?" Jack quickly said. "I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones, even the partially honest ones, you want to watch out for," at this, he looked at Will and Laura, who had the lack of luck in being tied up, "because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly…stupid."

Laura's jaw went slightly slack.

-I thought I at least partly knew you, Jack-

Suddenly, Jack unsheathed one of the pirates' swords and tossed it to Will.

He then began fighting with Barbossa.

Meanwhile, Laura ducked the sword of the pirate who had been guarding her before Will released himself and cut her bonds.

Finding a sword sticking out of a treasure-pile, the girl grabbed it and put it to use in defending herself.

A few minutes later, the fighters ceased their motion to stare at an undead Jack standing in the moonlight flooding through a hole in the cave roof.

As he played with one of the cursed coins, he stated,

"Couldn't resist, mate. Sorry."

Instantly, the fighting recommenced.

One of the pirates grabbed Will at the same time Laura was in the middle of battling three foes. The fifth enemy had been temporarily taken care of.

"I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain," the attacker said before he was hit from behind.

"Do you like pain?" Elizabeth asked. "Try wearing a corset."

"Elizabeth!" Laura called, getting away from her two conscious aggressors for the moment. "I'm glad you made it. I was getting worried when we didn't have reinforcements."

When the governor's daughter saw Jack still as a skeleton, she questioned,

"Who's side is Jack on?"

"At the moment?" Will asked right back.

Laura couldn't help but laugh as she occupied the remaining pirate-sailors.

Because of this, Will and Elizabeth were able to stick golden pole through all three briefly skeleton pirates before putting a grenade into the ribcage of the middle one and pushing them out of the moonlight.

They promptly blew up.

Jack then cut his hand and bled on his medallion as Will did the same and ran up to the chest.

After catching the medallion thrown to him by the captain, Laura's brother suspended his arm over the chest.

Jack then pointed his pistol at Barbossa while the latter did the same to Laura.

Fortunately, Jack pulled the trigger first.

Barbossa sighed.

"Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot."

"He didn't waste it," Will contradicted just before he dropped both medallions into the chest.

Barbossa dropped his sword and ripped his jacket open to reveal blood flowing out of the bullet's entry sight.

"I feel," he wondered, "…cold."

He then fell over backwards, dead.

Laura walked over to Elizabeth, who was staring at the cave wall.

"Miss Swann," the pirate respectfully addressed her, "I don't pretend to know anything detailed about you, Will, or love, but I do advise you to follow your heart, not society, in this matter."

Elizabeth pretended to ignore the suggestion as Will approached her.

Laura walked a small distance away to observe Jack hoarding the treasure, though she took no part in it.

"We should return to the Dauntless," Elizabeth said to Will.

"Your fiancé will be wanting to know you're safe," he replied, clearly put down about the fact.

The woman then turned away from Will and walked slowly towards Laura, who was staring at the chest.

-To think that this piece of history caused all of this trouble, as well as the trouble in my personal life-

She saw Jack whisper something to Will before swaggering off, piled with treasure, and soon followed by Will.

"Now, if you'll be so kind," the pirate was saying, "I'd be much obliged if you'd drop me off on my ship."

"Laura," Elizabeth began just as the men disappeared around the first corner, "I'm curious. You're a pirate, are you not? If pirates are as obsessed with treasure as I hear, why did you not collect as much as possible like Jack?"

Laura chuckled.

"Elizabeth," she answered, "what makes you think that all pirates originally wanted to be pirates? I admit, like every adventurous child, I occasionally daydreamed of adventuring with pirates on the sea; however, I myself spent my first twelve years in England with a decent family. Unfortunately, before I was even a teenager, my father and brother disappeared and my mother died. In hopes that I could find the male half of family, I decided to take to the seas. I won't go into what I went through up to now, but my adventures soon led me to piracy. Now, enough of my rambling! We should head to the boat. Jack and Will are waiting."

She then led a bewildered Elizabeth to the boat.

Reaching the cave's opening, they saw that the _Pearl_ was gone.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Elizabeth said sympathetically.

"They done what's right by them," he replied sadly. "Can't expect more than that."

-And I almost forgot our danger of being hanged-

--

During that night and the next day, Jack and Laura were shipped to Port Royal and stuck into the repaired brig while a scaffold was built outside for a morning hanging.

At around midnight, Laura gave up trying to find a weakness in the reinforced door.

"Well, Jack," she said, "there's no way out tonight, unless Will comes by with another escape. Do you happen to have a plan, yet, for tomorrow?"

The sleepless man on the other side of the bench shook his head.

"Not yet, luv."

"At least Davy Jones won't get us," she finished, actually finding comfort in her own words.

Jack chuckled.

"At least there's that."

--

The next morning, after having gotten a bit of sleep, the pirates were brought into the morning sun with their hands tied behind their backs.

As she was pushed up to the gallows, Laura tested the ropes only to discover that they were securely tied.

While the prisoners stood next to the nooses, the official began,

"Jack Sparrow, be it known that…"

"Captain, Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack quietly corrected.

Laura breathed a laugh as the official kept rambling on with Jack's crimes.

"…smuggling, impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England…"

"Ah, yes," the captain stated as he recalled his impersonation.

"Jack," the girl said, "if they ramble on like this for only your crimes, we won't be hanged until noon."

The man next to her quietly laughed at the idea.

"…poaching…and general lawlessness…

Laura Lark," the reader finally went on.

"Finally," Laura joked.

"…piracy, smuggling, arson…"

"Hey," the pirates muttered with mock offence, "that wasn't even my fault."

The official continued on with Laura's offences almost as long and the same as with Jack, except half of the "crimes" she had committed were not completely her fault and had been done for generally a good reason.

One of those had been the incident where she "committed" arson: A woman was being chased by thief of the murdering sorts. The lady had barely lived in what anyone could actually call a house anyway. So, Laura, who had witnessed the lady being chased and run out of her home, set the building on fire, saving the woman and killing her attacker (though she really tried to save him). Unfortunately, Laura had been blamed for arson and murder simply for saving an innocent life. Of course, Laura was still haunted by the thought of the man not making it out.

"…and general lawlessness. And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your souls."

A rather tight-fitting noose was slipped around Laura's neck.

As the hangman reached for the lever that would drop the two pirates to their deaths, someone in the crowd shouted "Move!" to the rest.

Will could be seen rushing forward, sword raised.

He threw the weapon into the wood near the bottom of the gallows, a trick he had used in the blacksmith shop before the actual start of the little adventure, just as Jack and Laura lost the flooring beneath their feet.

Laura had to fight Jack for the piece of metal under them, the only thing between life and death.

She was so busy trying to stay alive at that moment, that Laura did not notice Will fighting his way onto the gallows and manage to cut the rope securing the nooses.

Dropping down, the young woman managed to get free of both the noose and the hand-ties while Jack and Will used the former's length of rope to trip all of the soldiers between the scaffold and the tower.

Laura followed right behind them after stealing an officer's sword to defend herself from the endless flow of British.

Just as Laura thought her luck was coming back, she was cornered on the side next to Jack and Will against the pillar closest to the ocean.

Norrington walked through the mass of red and addressed Will.

"I thought we might have to endure some manner of ill-conceived escape attempt, but not from you."

The attention continued to be on Will as the pirates tested the sharpness of the bayonets pointed at them.

"On our return to Port Royal," the Governor stated, "I granted you clemency. And this is how you thank me? By throwing in your lot with him? He's a pirate!"

Laura tried scooting away from the gathering since the attention was not at all on her, but she was grabbed and shoved towards Jack.

"And a good man," Will was arguing.

Jack looked at his partner and mouthed,

"That's me."

Meanwhile, the older Turner twin continued,

"If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn three pairs of boots instead of two, so be it. At least my conscience is clear."

"You forget your place, Turner," Norrington challenged.

"It's right here," Will replied, "…between you, Jack, and Laura."

-Finally, I'm noticed-

Standing beside Will and holding onto his arm, Elizabeth said,

"As is mine."

"Elizabeth!" the Governor cried out with shock before ordering the soldiers, "Lower your weapons. For goodness' sake put them down!"

Laura breathed a sigh of relief as the bayonets were lowered.

"So this is where your heart truly lies, then?" Norrington asked his day-long fiancé.

"It is," the British woman answered.

"Finally," Laura breathed, only to get a raised eyebrow from Will.

Jack then looked slightly uncomfortable and looked up at the parrot wobbling on a standard at the same time as Laura before stepping forward, saying,

"Well! I'm actually feeling rather good about this."

To the Governor, he said,

"I think we've all arrived at a very special place, eh? Spiritually…Ecumenically…Grammatically?"

Then he turned to the Commodore.

"I want you to know that I was rooting for you, mate. Know that."

Next, he said to Elizabeth,

"Elizabeth…it would never have worked between us, darling. I'm sorry."

-Good…?-

Finally, he looked at Will.

"Will…nice hat."

"Alright, Jack, quit delaying," Laura said.

"Friends!" the older pirate called. "This is the day that you will always remember as the day that…"

The rest of his words were lost as he tripped over the battlement and dove into the water below.

Grinning at Jack's stupidity, Laura turned to Elizabeth.

"Miss Swann, it was a pleasure working with you. I hope that our next meeting will be a bit less adventurous, although it is enjoyable either way. Will," she continued, addressing her brother, "you still don't recognize me as more than just another pirate you adventured with?"

When he the young man simply gave her an utterly confused look, Laura laughed through her words as she went on. "Good luck, you two. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

Then, shaking her head, she jumped over the side of the fortress and into the ocean after Jack.

A minute later, she climbed up the ladder of the waiting _Pearl_. Jack had just swung onto the ship with a rope (courtesy of the crew).

On the spur of the moment, Laura ran over to Anamaria at the helm and instantly began talking.

"Anamaria, I know that you don't have a very good relationship with Jack…and he owes you a ship, but he has been searching for this magnificent vessel for ten years, now. I don't mean to be rude or anything…but, if you let him have this ship, I would help you find another one."

The other woman was staring at Laura through slitted eyes for what seemed like hours before she finally answered.

"Fine. But don't expect me to take too many orders while I'm still here…and you'd better find me another ship soon, or may just take this one back."

"Oh, thank you," Laura breathed.

She flashed a smile at Jack as they passed each other.

He went to the helm, where Laura knew that Anamaria would relinquish her place as captain.

Meanwhile the forgotten Turner strolled to the stern of the _Black Pearl_, once again captained by the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, stood by the rail, and watched the horizon, waiting for her next adventure.

She never asked to be known as a ruthless pirate with a bounty on her head, but she accepted it and would enjoy the life fate brought her.

Once again, thank you for reading. I never thought that a simple rough-draft on paper could turn into such a detailed and fun story. The next chapter will start at the beginning of "Dead Man's Chest" with a little overview of what happened in between.

Please, R&R!


	7. Simple TreasureHunting or Not?

Thank you Kairi's-twin, johnnydeppluver89, and LM1991 for your reviews!

Author's Note: Don't worry, everyone. Laura is actually going to hang out with Will a bit more during this movie and the next.

Simple Treasure-Hunting…or Not?

Following the incident with the undead pirates, Laura continued traveling with Jack and enjoying the adventures that came with being around him. She also managed to find a ship for Anamaria soon before picking up six new crewmembers at Tortuga.

This all lasted for approximately a few months, at least to Laura, who wasn't paying any particular attention to how much time passed.

To her, she was simply resigning herself into the pirate life. Although the younger Turner had been a pirate since she was twelve, the only real reason for her piracy had been to find her father and brother. During the "cursed coin" incident, as she so fondly called it, the girl discovered that she did not really have any family left; her brother had completely forgotten her and her father was most likely long dead on the bottom of the ocean. Because of this, Laura began trying to enjoy the life of piracy even more…

--

As one of his little schemes, Jack, along with Laura, snuck into a Turkish prison in order to confiscate an item…the matter of which Jack did not reveal to even his companion.

Following a near capture, the two pirates managed to hide themselves in already occupied coffins.

Being thrown out into the sea within her wooden tomb, Laura counted down from ten before blowing a hole with her pistol in the top of her craft. Ripping the hole larger, she sat up and looked around in the fog, soon hearing a near-by crow land on something wooden. As the girl looked in the direction of the noise, a hole (and unfortunately the crow) was blasted by a pistol shot from within the coffin floating close to her own.

Jack popped out and casually, if not stupidly, looked about before reaching back down the hole for his hat and donning it.

"Well," Laura greeted, "it's nice to see that you made it out in one piece as well, Jack. Now, do you mind telling me what it is we went in that living sewage dump for?"

"All in time, luv," her partner casually responded as he broke off the leg of his coffin's original occupant and used it as an oar before talking to the skeleton he was sitting on.

"Sorry, mate. Mind if we make a little side trip? I didn't think so."

Laura rolled her eyes, annoyed, as she copied the captain's action, following him towards the waiting _Pearl_.

--

Tossing the bony leg aside, the piratess climbed onto the ship after Jack, who was conversating with Gibbs.

"Not quite according to plan," the first mate pointed out as the captain handed him his leg-oar.

"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome," Jack outlined.

"So you got what you went in for, then?" Gibbs asked.

"Mmm hmm," Jack replied, waving a piece of rolled up brown cloth in the air.

"That's it?" Laura mumbled.

Suddenly, all of the crew, including Gibbs, was standing in a group facing Jack and his female companion.

"Captain," the grizzly man explained, "the crew, meaning me as well, were expecting something a bit more shiny. What with the Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped and reclaimed by the sea, and the treasure with it."

"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic," one of the new crewmembers called Leech added.

"And the hurricane," the short little Marty put in.

-Hey! They weren't THAT bad-

"Aye!" all of the crew, except for Laura, shouted.

"All in all," Gibbs continued, "it seems some time since we did a speck of honest pirating."

"Shiny?" Jack asked in turn.

"Aye, shiny," the first mate confirmed.

"Is that how you're all feeling then?" Jack replied, seemingly casual as Laura calmly reloaded her gun. "That perhaps dear old Jack is not serving your best interests as captain?"

"Uh-oh," Laura quietly fretted.

"Ahh! Walk the plank!" Cotton's parrot cried out before being silenced by its owner.

"What did the bird say?" Jack questioned, pointing his pistol at the creature.

"Do not blame the bird," Leech defended. "Show us what is on that piece of cloth there."

Before Jack could do anything, the tag-along, Jack the undead monkey, jumped from nowhere and grabbed the piece of cloth.

Laura quickly shot the animal as it landed on the deck, causing it to drop the cloth.

"You know that won't do no good," Gibbs complained to the young woman.

"Does me," Jack countered as Marty picked up the item in question.

"It's a key," the short man stated.

"No," the captain once again argued, "much more better. It is a drawing of a key."

As the pirates' only reaction was to stare at Jack, the man continued,

"Gentlemen, what do keys do?"

"Keys…unlock things?" Leech idiotically suggested.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable," Gibbs put in, "…so we're setting out to find whatever it is this key unlocks."

"No," the captain replied. "If we don't have the key, we can't open whatever it is we don't have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it?"

"So," Gibbs said uncertainly, "we're going after this key."

"You're not making any sense at all," the captain argued. "Any more questions?"

"So," Marty asked, "do we have a heading?"

"Ah, a heading," Jack caught on, opening his compass. "Let's set sail in a general…"

Laura, who was the only one other than Jack in view of the compass, became worried as the arrow frantically spun around. Jack's pointing finger followed its direction, giving away the uncertainty to the rest of the pirates.

"…that way direction," he finished, pointing randomly into the fog.

"Captain?" the seasoned sailor questioned.

"Come on, snap to and make sail, you know how this works," Jack said before walking to his cabin.

Laura stayed behind long enough to hear Marty talk to Gibbs.

"Have you noticed lately, the captain seems to be acting a bit strange…er."

"Setting sail without knowing his own heading," the other man answered. "Something's got Jack vexed, and mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow bodes ill for us all."

Laura shivered at the thought of Jack not knowing what he was doing before heading into the cabin after her captain.

--

An hour later, Laura was resting in a corner of Jack's cabin, while he was attempting to decipher their course. He would have easily done it, if not for the jumpy direction of the compass.

"Jack," the girl addressed her leader, "why are you acting different than usual? It's as if you're nervous about something, and it's affecting the crew. You were almost mutinied early."

Ignoring his companion, Jack looked at the empty rum bottle next to him.

"Why is the rum always gone?" he randomly asked as he got up and stumbled to his hat on a nearby chair.

"Oh," he stated, realizing that he had drunk it all, "that's why."

"I'm coming too," Laura called after him, tossing the empty rum bottle in her lap onto the table.

One floor down, they passed up the snoring crew in their hammocks.

"As you were, gents," Jack said when they continued to sleep at his approach.

Laura quietly laughed to herself when she saw the teddy bear hanging from Marty's bed. She had become quite fond of the crew over time, except for the occasional whispers of mutiny which she was usually able to quiet.

In the storage room below, Laura went the opposite direction of Jack in their desperate search for rum.

While fishing through old papers, broken bottles, and the like, she heard a noise which sounded like a bottle breaking as it fell to the floor.

Hoping to catch Jack hoarding a stash of rum by himself, Laura tiptoed toward the noise's direction.

What she saw was far from a stash of rum. In fact, she saw Jack talking to a man who appeared to be covered with sea and plant life.

"…so he ended up a pirate after all," the man was saying.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?" Jack asked, not noticing Laura, who was still hiding in the shadows.

"He sent me. Davy Jones."

Laura shivered at the all too familiar name and began digging through her mind in search of any information which might be useful in deciphering the reason for this eerie visitor.

"Ah," Jack was saying, "so it's you then. He shanghaied you into the service, eh?"

"I chose it," the man defensively answered. "I'm sorry for the part I played in the mutiny against you, Jack. I stood up for you. Everything went wrong after that. They strapped me to a cannon, I ended up on the bottom of the ocean, the weight of the water crushing down on me. Unable to move, unable to die, Jack. I thought even the tiniest hope of escaping this fate, I would take it. I would trade anything for it."

-Wait a second, why does that story seem familiar? I understand the "Davy Jones" part, but why does this man's story seem so… I don't know!-

"It's funny what a man will do to forestall his final judgment," Jack said as he walked away, only to be cornered by the man.

"You made a deal with him too, Jack. He raised the _Pearl_ from the depths for you, thirteen years you've been captain."

"Technically," the captain began before the man interrupted.

"Jack, you won't be able to talk yourself out of this. The terms that apply to me apply to you as well: one soul bound to crew one hundred years upon his ship."

"Yes," Jack tried talking again, "well the _Flying Dutchman_ already has a captain, so there's really no…"

"Then it's the Locker for you!" the man broke in once more. "Jones' terrible leviathan will find you and drag the _Pearl_ back to the depths and you along with it."

"Any idea when Jones might release said terrible beastie?" Jack weakly asked.

"I already told you, Jack," the man answered while putting his hand onto Jack's palm. "The time is up. It will come, drawn with ravenous hunger to the man what bears the Black Spot."

At that, the man disappeared and Laura walked up behind Jack just as he looked at his palm where the man had touched it. A fearful sight met their eyes: the Black Spot.

"Well Jack," the girl said, trying to sound calm, "it seems we have another big adventure ahead of us."

"Mmm-Hmm," the captain uneasily replied.

"These are just guesses, but, from what I gathered, you made a deal with Jones for him to raise the _Pearl_ out of the sea for some reason, thirteen years was the contract's length, you were to be captain, you were going to try talking your way out of it, even though you agreed to serve a hundred years on his vessel afterwards, and now it's been thirteen years and the contract is up?"

The captain simply said "mmm-hmm" in response to every stated fact.

"Alright," she lightly continued, "then I suppose this would be the time for you to panic."

At this, Jack frantically ran up the stairs, shouting at the crew, followed closely by a semi-calm Laura.

"On deck all hands! Make fast the bunt gasket! On deck you scallys! Scallys! Movement, I want movement! Run, keep running! Run as if the Devil himself and itself is upon us!"

Laura sighed at Jack's panic, which caused the deck to become a mess of chaos.

-I didn't mean literally-

She leaned against the stairs leading to the helm as Jack wrapped a cloth around his marked hand and was approached by Gibbs, scaring the captain more than he already was.

"Do we have a heading?" the man asked.

"Run! Land!" Jack shot out.

"Which port?" Gibbs further questioned.

"I didn't say port, I said land. Any land!" Jack replied before the monkey swept down, grabbed Jack's hat, and threw it into the sea, causing all of the pirates to attempt its rescue.

"No, no! Leave it. Run!" Jack yelled, stopping the shocked pirates in their tracks.

"Back to your stations, the lot of you!" Gibbs confirmed. "Jack?"

Jack had hidden behind the stairs.

"Shh!" was the answer.

"For the love of mother and child, Jack, what's coming after us?"

"Nothing," the captain quickly replied as Gibbs stalked off.

"Jack, get a hold of yourself," Laura urged prior to going into the Captain's Cabin to figure out where they were going.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R!


	8. New and Old Friends

Thanks LM1991 and Kairi's-twin for your reviews!

Author's Note: During this chapter, I might be doing a little switching back and forth in "points of view", although I originally planned on not doing it at all. I sort of went crazy on detail during this section, also, so enjoy that. Credit goes to my mom for the idea of how Laura escapes from Cannibal Island.

New and Old Friends

Laura was sitting in the Captain's Cabin with piles of maps strewn on the table in front of her. Two maps in particular took her attention as the captain tiptoed in, trying to not distract her since her temper was momentarily getting the better of her.

One map was a simple, but up-to-date, professional drawing of the Atlantic in general.

As the young woman tossed it aside to pick up and study another map from the floor, Jack was able to see that she had uncaringly circled an island with pen ink on the first chart.

Just as the sailor in the crow's nest shouted, "Land ho," the girl abruptly stood and shoved the map at her leader.

"Do realize where you've led us, Jack?" she accused.

Jack looked at the chart now in his hands.

It was roughly drawn and worn from age, but the words "Cannibal Island" could be easily deciphered above the drawing of an island.

Jack had sketched it himself.

Looking at his young partner, who was more of an adviser since the pirate obtained his ship and a crew, the captain randomly studied her features.

Her piercing ocean blue eyes glared at him with a mask of heat from an oval face which was framed by golden brown hair that showed a hint of red in the candle and lamplight.

(Ok, back to Laura)

The young woman continued to defiantly glower at the captain.

This had not been the first time Jack had hidden something from her since he once again became captain of the _Pearl_…and it was becoming irritating. From their first adventure together, he had always given her a good idea of what he was planning, until he had met Will.

-Does he suspect that Will's my brother?…hmm, unlikely-

She continued looking at him straight in the eye until she noticed that he was staring right back.

Rolling her eyes, Laura grabbed the map from Jack, walked to her usual corner, and sat down to further examine the map of Cannibal Island.

She had no wish whatsoever to go back.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't have a choice in the matter since Gibbs was faithfully and blindly following Jack in his panic.

A few minutes later, she relented and went below decks to grab her few personal belongings that she knew would be necessary for this nightmare.

After throwing on her newly found frock coat, tightening her belt, and exchanging her bandana for a string of leather around her ever growing hair (she refused to cut it), Laura began climbing the stairs which led back up to the deck.

Suddenly, Laura lost her balance and was hurled onto the steps, bruising her upper leg in the process, as the ship jolted.

-The second time I lost my balance since the lovely reunion with my brother, stupid boy-

Thinking of her brother lately was usually followed by mentally calling him or herself idiotic for the lack of Will's memory. This occurred rather often since Jack began hiding things from her and she needed someone to blame.

Limping onto the deck, the piratess saw that the crew, affected by Jack's still-occurring panic, had grounded the ship on Cannibal Island.

-Lovely-

Laura also observed that Jack's momentary calmness from their encounter in the Cabin had worn off. As soon as a ladder could be thrown over the _Pearl's_ side, he raced down from the helm, repeating the nonsense of running over and over again.

The woman was the last one off the vessel as the rest of the crew flew down the ladder after Jack like the Devil was literally upon them.

Reaching the tree-line into which the pirates were running, Laura checked the ammo in her pistol. She knew it wouldn't do any good, but stalling was her momentary goal.

All of a sudden, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

Turning to face whatever fate had brought to her attention, she witnessed several natives walking towards as anyone would a wild animal.

"Oh, long time no see," she nervously said. "…umm, I'll be seeing you. Au revoir!"

At this, she began racing through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her.

Then, before she knew it, she was surrounded by about a dozen of the natives.

They whispered words of recognition before Laura felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

Glancing down, she saw a dart sticking out of her arm. The trench coat had done nothing to stop the tip from puncturing her skin.

"Bugger."

Growing faint, she collapsed, unconscious.

--

As Laura opened her eyes, she noted that she and Jack were in make-shift wood and bone throne chairs…and that they were surrounded by natives.

Making eye contact with Jack, she was greeted,

"Nice to see a friendly face."

"Oh, don't even try, Jack. You got into this mess. Perhaps you have a plan to get us out," she snapped.

The effects of the dart had left her with a headache.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm guessing that you're interested in an update," the captain replied.

The girl nodded her head.

"Well," Jack continued, "half of the crew is dead and eaten, the rest are in cages somewhere, and we're going to be burned alive this evening."

"Interesting," Laura responded.

-Well, if we're going to get out of this, I just have to forget that I'm mad at Jack for now-

"So," she relented, "I suppose that the plan is to play along until one of us comes up with a good plan?"

"Yep," was the answer.

"Alright."

--

Some time in the afternoon, after the two pirates had played god and goddess for hours, they heard a commotion further into the village.

The natives were bringing something or someone to their deity/captives.

Peering over the heads of the people in front of them, Laura could see the natives carrying an unconscious man, whose hands and feet were securely tied to a pole, over the bridge closest to her.

As the crowd parted, the man could be recognized as Will.

Laura put her head in her hands as the headache came back.

"Kali kali ten dada," one of the natives began.

Just like the last time, she was the only one with aftereffects from the darts.

When she finally looked up, Will was in front of them, regaining consciousness.

"Jack?" he asked. "Jack Sparrow! I can honestly say I'm glad to see you."

Laura almost rushed to help her brother, only to realize as Jack stood up and poked Will curiously that it would probably somehow anger the natives and end all of their lives.

"Jack," Will continued, confused at Jack's lack of recognition, "it's me, Will Turner!"

"Pase ko," Jack addressed the cannibals.

"Idada esipige," was the reply.

Finally, the tied up captive saw Laura.

"Laura! Tell them to let me down. Laura Lark!"

The girl stood up and walked over to Will.

Pitying and helpless eyes met Will's confused ones.

"I would help you if I could," she whispered urgently before quickly strolling back over to her chair.

Looking at Will, Jack was continuing his conversation with the crowd.

"Lum say say eunuchey. Snip snip."

"Jack," Will insisted, "the compass! That's all I need! Elizabeth is in danger! We were arrested for trying to help you! She faces the gallows!

Laura decided to do what she could to at least temporarily save Will's life.

"Snay say sha. Smomy lama shuku, savvy?"

When the natives didn't react, she continued,

"Bon liki liki."

"Bon liki liki!" the cannibals repeated before carrying Will away.

She heard Jack whisper to Will,

"Save me!" before joining Laura on the throne.

"Laura," Will yelled, "what did you tell them? No! What about Elizabeth? Jack!"

"I did tell them to put him in the cages, right?" she asked Jack.

After a moment of shifty eyes, he answered.

"Yeah."

Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief, Laura's froze as the ceremonial drums began.

"Jack," she asked uneasily as the cannibals put a necklace of human fingers around her neck, "do you happen to have a plan, yet?"

"Just follow my lead," he answered. "You'll know when the time comes."

As the natives were piling small wood in the middle of the clearing, Jack stood up, waving his arms.

"Oh, no no, oy, more wood, big fire, big fire, I am chief, want big fire, more wood. C'mon."

Rolling her eyes, Laura ordered the guards next to the throne,

"Aboogie snickle snickle toute suite, go on."

"More wood!" Jack concluded.

Just as the guards were gone, the pirates began to frantically run away and into the village. Jack nearly fell over a cliff in his hurry as Laura stopped short and picked a bamboo branch.

Frantically shaking his head at the idea presented by the pole, Jack raced into one of the huts.

When Laura looked away from the hut, she discovered that she was surrounded by a mass of natives.

"Oh," she said, soon followed by Jack saying,

"Oh bugger," as he emerged from the hut with two lengths of rope and paprika.

Smiling and shaking some of the paprika onto his underarms, he continued,

"A little seasoning, eh?"

--

Minutes later, the natives had suspended the two pirates each on a bamboo spit.

"Well done," the captain sarcastically congratulated the cannibals.

"Jack," Laura said after realizing that her ropes were slightly loose in certain places, offering an escape route, "now would be an excellent time for plan B."

The native with the torch ran into their section of the village.

"Ahh fie fie!" he cried.

"Oh fie fie!" the others repeated.

Laura began to panic as the torch was nearly touching the wood.

Suddenly, a cannibal came running across the bridge.

"Laguetoto laguetoto, hayva cow cow shay shay!" he said.

The piratess mentally translated it as, "the prisoners are escaping."

All of the natives looked at Jack for directions.

"Well go on, go get them," he ordered. "Paylala!"

"Paylala!" the crowd repeated before they all ran off to catch the escapees.

Unfortunately, the torch was dropped so that it was just touching the straw mingled in with the wood.

"Wait!" Jack called. "No, no, oy! No, no. Not good."

He then began blowing on the straw as it caught fire.

Laura, however, had a little more sense.

"Jack," she warned, "you're only making it worse."

Too late. The wood had already caught fire.

As it got higher, both pirates began bouncing up and down, trying to spring their way off the spit.

Finally succeeding, Laura managed to untie herself. Jack, on the other hand, was only able to release his feet.

Before she had the chance to help him, the captain ran off in the direction they had tried last time.

When Laura reached Jack's location, he was finishing a fruit throwing contest with two cannibal women.

"Stop it!" he yelled, causing the women to freeze in mid-throw.

Laura had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud at Jack, who had fruit stuck on the pole still attached to him (like a modern day shish kabob).

Suddenly, the captain ran towards the edge screaming.

The front end of the pole caught the ground, sending him vaulting over to the other side.

As soon as she saw him land on his feet, Laura decided to proceed with her own gradually building plan.

Racing into the nearest hut, she frantically looked around for rope or anything that could get her down the cliff after Jack, who had apparently fallen.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on the hut itself.

Its contents had the look of a medicine woman, the most important asset of the village.

Therefore, the hut's construction was unique.

An immeasurable length of rope was what held the slats together instead of the usual separate ties.

Grinning at herself, Laura found the end of the rope.

It easily came loose.

Meanwhile, she heard the crashing of Jack becoming more distant.

The sound stopped just as she yanked her trench coat off to wrap it around the rope, which was still mostly intertwined in the hut, and jumped off the side, the coat between her hands and the rope to keep it from injuring her.

She couldn't help but laugh hysterically at her Jack-like daring attitude…

until her rope ran out and she plunged the last ten feet, landing on her back.

As she sat up trying to catch her breath and spotted Jack running in the probable direction of the beach, Laura's trench coat landed on top of her, followed by a few planks, giving evidence to the destruction of the hut.

She then jumped up and ran after the captain, coat in hand.

Reaching the beach, the girl turned a sharp corner towards the ship and began running alongside Jack, who had not turned quite so gracefully.

As they looked behind them, a hoard of natives came plunging out of the forest in pursuit.

After making eye contact, they proceeded to scream as they ran towards the _Pearl_ and their only hope of escape.

They finally were able to reach the side of the ship and latch onto the dangling net as the craft headed away from the shore in the high tide.

"Alas my children," Jack called out to the mourning natives on the shore, "this is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost…"

He was interrupted as a wave splashed him and Laura from behind.

"…Captain Jack Sparrow," he finished while climbing onto the deck.

Laura was soon on the deck next to him, spitting out saltwater and laughing at the same time.

"You seem to be in a better mood," Jack pointed out.

"With Will around again, I have a feeling we're in for another grand quest. And you know that I prefer the big adventures to the normal plunderings," she cheerfully answered.

Their brief conversation was cut off as Jack was approached by Gibbs, followed by Will.

Her dislike for the taste of saltwater caused Laura to continue spitting over the side of the ship.

"Let's put some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea," the first mate suggested.

"Yes to the first, yes to the second," Jack answered, "but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible."

Having cleared mouth of most of the salty water taste, Laura sped up to the helm as Jack, Gibbs, and Will strolled in that direction.

"That seems a bit contradictory, Captain," Gibbs was arguing.

"I have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, Master Gibbs," Jack replied. "Now, where is that monkey? I want to shoot something."

"Jack," Will began, "Elizabeth is in danger."

The captain responded while making his way to the helm.

"Have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her? Maybe just lock her up somewhere?"

"She is locked up, in a prison bound to hang for helping you," Will disputed.

"And how, exactly, did she help us?" Laura queried, only to be ignored…again.

Jack continued quarreling.

"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes."

Clearly tired of the discussion, Will grabbed a sailor's sword and put it against Jack's throat.

Laura's breath caught at the sight of Jack in peril; however, she knew that Will probably had a good reason for what he was doing.

"I need that compass of yours, Jack," Will stated. "I must trade it for her freedom."

"Mr. Gibbs," Jack began, effortlessly pushing the sword away from his throat.

"Captain?" the first mate responded from his post at the wheel.

"We have a need to travel upriver."

"You mean a need as in a trifling need," Gibbs hopefully asked, "fleeting, as in, say, a passing fancy?"

"No," Jack countered, looking at Will, "a resolute and unyielding need."

"What we need to do," Will ordered, "is to make sail for Port Royal with all haste."

"William," Jack replied in a way that made Laura become suspicious of his intentions, "I shall trade you the compass, if you will help me to find this."

Will bent down to look at the cloth Jack was holding up before grabbing it.

The drawn key brought the usual confusion to Will's eyes.

Seeing that uncertainty made Laura once again wonder why he didn't remember her.

This train of thought led the young woman to ignore the rest of the conversation.

Instead, she walked to the very front of the _Pearl_ to think.

A minute later, she realized: maybe Will forgot because he was trying to move on after he had settled in Port Royal. His search for Bootstrap had effectively ceased at that time; why not the memory of his little sister? In that case, he was not presently directly worthy of blame.

Temporarily satisfied with her answer, Laura leaned against the railing and tranquilly watched the oncoming sunset.

Seeing the sun sink beyond the horizon had been a favorite pastime since she was a little girl.

"Are you alright?" Will suddenly asked, standing next to her.

Ignoring the question, Laura continued to stare at the setting sun. They had almost reached their destination, wherever that was.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, nodding towards the horizon.

He, in turn, ignored her question.

"You walked away rather quickly while I was talking to Jack."

"I simply had no reason to stay. I knew from experience that Jack would get his way and win the argument one way or the other," Laura answered.

"I achieved my goal of obtaining his help. That's all that matters," Will stated.

"Will," the girl began, "I am only going to warn you of this once. Rarely trust a pirate unless you know perfectly well what they might do."

At this, Laura trotted back up to the helm.

--

They had finally lowered the anchor and had begun rowing their way upriver into the jungle, when Will asked Gibbs,

"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?"

Laura, who was in the same boat as Will and Gibbs behind Jack's, couldn't help but listen to hear what explanation the first mate would give.

"Well," the grizzly man began, "if you believe such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A monstrous creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off, and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness. The Kraken."

Laura mentally laughed at the storyteller voice always used by Gibbs.

"They say the stench of its breath is…Imagine, the last thing you know on God's green Earth is the roar of the Kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses. If you believe such things."

"And the key will spare him that?" Will further questioned.

"Well," Gibbs answered, "that's the very question Jack wants answered, bad enough even to go visit her."

"Her?" Will asked.

"Aye," was the confirmation.

A few minutes later, they arrived at one of the huts.

Jack stepped onto the small dock and turned to the crew.

"No worries, mates," he addressed them. "Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable we are…were…have been…before…"

Laura and Gibbs had stepped onto the dock next to Jack.

"I'll watch your back," the first mate assured the captain.

"It's me front I'm worried about," Jack replied.

-So this must be where Jack acquired his compass-

Gibbs then looked at Laura and said,

"Mind the boat."

Laura in turn looked at her brother.

"Mind the boat."

All of the pirates went on with this cycle until Cotton was stuck guarding the craft.

By the time Laura, Will, and Gibbs had crowded behind Jack, the captain was peeking into the shack through a window in the door.

"Jack Sparrow," they heard a woman's voice say.

As Jack opened the door to reveal a cluttered and candlelit space prior to stepping in, he replied,

"Tia Dalma!"

Laura stood next to Will as she studied the woman's dark features.

"I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day," she said before looking at the Turner twins in shock.

"You two," she began, pointing at them, "you have a touch of destiny about you, William Turner…and…Laura Lark."

-Great! Another person who hesitates before saying my pirate name!-

"You know me?" Will asked as Laura simply participated in an unspoken staring contest with the woman.

"You want to know me," Tia stated, stepping closer to Will.

"There'll be no knowing here," Jack interrupted as he moved between Tia and Will. "We came for help and we're not leaving without it. I thought I knew you."

"Not so well as I'd hoped," Tia said while sitting down. "Come."

"Come," Jack told Will.

I know…this chapter was SUPER long, but there was a lot of detail I had to get in.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	9. Familiar Ground

Thanks Kairi's-twin for your review!

Familiar Ground

Laura's eyebrows rose higher and higher as Tia traced her finger along Will's chin.

"So what service may I do you?" the woman asked Laura's brother before turning to Jack. "You know I demand payment."

"Ah," Jack replied as he motioned to one of the sailors carrying a covered cage, "I brought payment."

Grabbing and uncovering the cage, revealing Jack the monkey, Jack shot the undead creature.

"Look! An undead monkey! Top that."

Tia let the monkey out of its cage.

"No!" Gibbs cried out. "You've no idea how long it took us to catch that."

Laura peered at the corner the animal had gone around. A pair of black boots could be seen.

"The payment is fair," Tia confirmed.

"We're looking for this," Will said, spreading the cloth with the printed key out on the table. "And what it goes to."

Looking at the captain, Tia demanded,

"The compass you bartered from me. It cannot lead you to this?"

"Maybe, why?" Jack uncomfortably asked.

"Ah," the woman responded, "Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants! Or do you know, but are loathe to claim it as your own? Your key go to a chest. And it's what lay inside the chest you seek. Don't it?"

"What is inside?" Gibbs asked.

"Gold?" Pintel hopefully put in. "Jewels? Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"

"Nothing bad I hope," the one-eyed Ragetti fretted, looking at a jar full of eyeballs hanging from the ceiling.

"You know of Davy Jones, yes?" Tia questioned. When she saw the look of true recognition in only the eyes of Jack and Laura, she continued. "A man of the sea, a great sailor. Till he run afoul of that which vex all men."

"What vexes all men?" Will asked.

"What indeed?" Tia asked in turn.

"Well, the sea," Gibbs assumed.

"Sums," Pintel guessed, followed by Ragetti.

"The dichotomy of good and evil."

"A woman," Jack and Laura said at the same time, acquiring several odd looks from the crew.

"A woman," Tia validated. "He fell in love."

"No, no, no, no," Gibbs argued, "I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."

"Same story, different versions," Tia flippantly stated, "and all are true. It was a woman as changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. Him never stop loving her. But the pain it cause him was too much to live with, but not enough to cause him to die."

"What exactly did he put into the chest?" Will pointedly asked.

"Him heart," the woman answered.

"Literally, or figuratively?" Ragetti idiotically queried, followed by Pintel's retort.

"He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest. Could he?"

"It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings," Tia continued, "and so him carve him heart, lock it away in a chest, and hide the chest from the world. The key, he keep with him at all times."

"You knew this," Will accused Jack.

"I did not," the captain defended. "I didn't know where the key was, but now we do. So all that's left is to climb aboard the _Flying Dutchman_, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass, eh?"

As he turned to leave, Tia stood and addressed him.

"Let me see your hand."

Jack reluctantly let her unwrap the cloth around his hand.

As soon as the Black Spot was revealed, Gibbs, followed by Pintel and Ragetti, began turning in circles and spitting on the floor.

"The black spot!" Gibbs yelped.

"Black spot!" Pintel and Ragetti cried almost in unison.

"My eyesight's good as ever, just so you know," Jack encouraged them as Tia went into a back room, muttering. A few seconds later, she emerged with a large jar of dirt in her hands.

"Davy Jones cannot make port, cannot step on land but once every ten years," the woman stated, handing the jar to Jack. "Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, so you will carry land with you."

"Dirt," Jack said. "This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes."

"Is the jar of dirt going to help?"

"If you don't want it, give it back."

"No!"

"Then it helps," Tia Dalma finalized.

"It seems," Will stated, "we have a need to find the _Flying Dutchman_."

"A touch of destiny…" Tia chanted, throwing a handful of crab claws onto the table.

The legs oddly landed in the shape of a formation in the ocean which Jack was familiar with.

Everyone then turned to leave, with Laura last after her captain.

The door had automatically shut behind the not-so-chivalrous Jack, and as the girl reached for the doorknob, Tia stopped her.

"You hide who you are from your friends quite well, Laura Turner. It seems we both have that in common."

"Why didn't you say my true name in front of my friends? I know that you're an ally, but you just met me," Laura said in response.

"There are some secrets that should not be revealed until a time of their owner's choosing," Tia answered.

The pirate sighed before reaching for the door again.

"Thank you," she said.

As she turned the handle, Tia stated from behind her,

"You are more like your brother than you know."

Opening the door, Laura had quite a sight to welcome.

While the rest of the crew were in the boats and casually chatting amongst themselves, Jack, who had apparently been listening at the door, was still on his knees on the porch, looking very much like a child caught by his parents with a hand in the cookie jar.

He was clearly a little afraid that Laura would go back into her foul mood from before Cannibal Island, however all she said to him as she walked to Will's boat was,

"Don't even think about spreading that secret, Jack."

Laura would be able to do explanations later…hopefully.

--

A few hours later, they had managed to navigate the _Pearl_ to where the_ Flying Dutchman_ would supposedly be.

Gibbs, Jack, Will, and Laura were lined up along the railing in the pouring rain, viewing the wrecked ship on the rocks.

-That doesn't look at all like it-

"That's the _Flying Dutchman_?" Will asked with as much doubt as Laura felt, before continuing.

"She doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," Jack replied, "do not underestimate her."

"Musta run afoul of the reef," Gibbs forcefully suggested.

"So what's your plan then?" Jack asked Will.

"I row over," the boy answered, "search the ship until I find your bloody key."

"And if there are crewmen?" the captain further questioned.

"I cut down anyone in my path," was the reply.

"I like it," Jack stated, looking at Laura as Will climbed into the lowered boat. "Simple, easy to remember."

"Your chariot awaits you, sire!" Ragetti was calling out to Will while cackling.

-Wait, I no there's something different about the crewman of that ship, if only I could remember what. Well, since Jack isn't honest with me, I might as well be with the brother that doesn't remember me-

"Oh," Jack was saying to Will. "If you do happen to get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt. Might save your life."

Laura quickly climbed down into Will's boat just as he was casting off.

"What are you doing?" Will questioned over the rain.

"Let me just say that I don't trust Jack like I used to," Laura answered.

A minute later, they had climbed onto the pitiful vessel.

"Something's not right," Laura stated as she noticed that ship was split completely in half.

Will was looking at the frightened and hiding crewmembers when they both heard a large splash.

The older Turner ran to source of the splash, a man who was crawling towards them, whimpering.

As Will turned the man over, it was revealed that the man's face had been sucked off somehow, giving evidence of the Kraken.

Laura shivered at the memory of how she met Jones the last time: the ship she was on had been attacked by the fearful monster of legend.

"Will," she began, only to be cut off as the crew of Davy Jones came out of nowhere.

Both she and Will began fighting for their lives.

-Sure, now I remember that these men don't die-

Soon, they were cornered. Will had somehow managed to set his sword blade on fire and was threatening the crew with it, until he was knocked unconscious.

As Laura bent down to see if he was alright, the real _Flying Dutchman_ burst out of the sea.

It was just as grand as the girl remembered, if not more covered with plant life.

She soon found herself kneeling next to a just conscious Will along with four surviving crewmembers of the other ship.

The fish/man with the head of a hammerhead shark spoke to someone about ten feet away. Though the person's face was distorted from the pouring rain, Laura could recognize him as Davy.

Bending down to one of the kneeling sailors, the captain questioned,

"Do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare, all your sins punished? I can off you an escape."

"Don't listen to him," another sailor warned.

Laura almost gasped. She knew what lay ahead for the poor soul.

"Do you not fear death?" Jones asked the man.

"I'll take my chances, sir," the poor man replied.

"To the depths," Jones ordered.

The orders were carried out as the man's throat was slit and he was thrown overboard.

"Cruel blighter!" a third sailor accused.

"Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?" Jones responded prior to turning once again to the first sailor.

While the captain was asking the man to serve a hundred years on the ship, Laura whispered to Will,

"Just a little piece of advice: avoid agreeing to serve whatever you do."

"I will serve," the sailor had answered.

All of the crew began laughing with glee.

In mid-laugh, Jones caught eye of Laura, causing him to cut short.

Luckily for her, Will diverted his attention.

"You are neither dead nor dying," the captain said, half to Will and half to Laura. "What is your purpose here?"

"Jack Sparrow sent us to settle his debt," Will answered as quickly as possible.

"What is your purpose?" Davy questioned again, not wanting to believe his ears.

"Jack Sparrow," Will quickly and hesitantly said again, "sent us to settle his debt."

"You mean you and the little lady?" Jones tauntingly asked. "Did he now? I'm sorely tempted to accept that offer."

Suddenly, Davy and about a dozen of the crewmembers disappeared. Once again from experience, Laura guessed that they were aboard the _Pearl_.

A few minutes later, Jones and his companions returned.

Suspiciously, no one from Jack's ship was with them.

Eyeballing the two Turner's, Jones addressed them.

"Well, it seems that you get to have a little time to get acquainted with my vessel. Put them to work," he ordered. Just as Laura was about to be herded along with the other newcomers, Jones grabbed her arm with his giant crab claw, stopping her in her tracks.

"You ought to be more careful with that, mate," she said, nodding at the claw.

"Did ye think I wouldn't recognize ye," he began, "you treacherous little…"

"Pirate? Girl? Woman? Piratess? Oh, or better yet, rabbit!" the girl interrupted.

After getting a confused look due to the last comment, she continued,

"Well, rabbits are rather skittish. Move an inch or step on a stick and there's a good chance they just might bolt. And if I may be so bold as…"

Her words were lost as Jones cut her short.

"Don't play games with me, "partner of Captain Jack Sparrow"" he quoted.

"Oh, so I'm that famous now, eh?"

"You won't be gettin' away so easily this time," he threatened as he let her go.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	10. Until I See It

Thanks LM1991 and Kairi's-twin for your reviews!

Author's Note: By the way, I should have mentioned in the first chapter that Laura has scars on her back from her first encounter with Jones. Also, I've never been the type for writing the even slightly dramatic, but I had to show that Laura is willing to do anything to protect her brother. I hope it turns out alright. Enjoy!

Until I See It

Throughout the next day, Laura and Will were integrated into the crew, although neither of them had even come close to swearing themselves to the _Dutchman_. Whenever they were given a break, Laura would talk quietly with her still oblivious brother. One of the conversations included the older Turner presenting the idea of Jack trading his freedom in exchange for their service. Laura, in turn, denied the idea, stating that Jones wouldn't let Jack get away that easy.

Late that night, a storm came upon them.

While they were attempting to move a cannon, the bo'sun called out,

"Secure the mast tackle, Mr. Turner!"

Will and one of the crew simultaneously climbed up the rope ladders to take care of the problem.

Before Laura could react, the cannon came crashing down, barely missing her head.

Apparently, Will had somehow fallen down because of the cannon.

As the young woman rushed to her brother's side, the bo'sun ordered some of the crew,

"Haul that weevil to his feet! Five lashes to remind you to stay on her!"

Just as two of the pirates secured Will, ripped off his shirt, revealing his muscular back, and the bo'sun raised the whip, the same man who had joined Will in obeying the command to secure the mast tackle grabbed the bo'sun's arm.

"Impeding me in my duties?" the fish/man queried. "You'll share the punishment."

"I'll take it all," the man bravely offered.

-That seems familiar. Why does he remind me of…no, it can't be. I won't believe it until I see it-

The man's action had caused Laura to blink twice in quick succession.

He had the same voice, the same height and stature as…she would not even hope for it in her mind. In fact, she wished for him not to be, for she had learned to at least partially blame him over the years as the reason for her ruined childhood. She had had the perfect life, the perfect family, until he had left to go pirating and disappeared.

As she felt anger well up inside her, Davy Jones stepped out of the shadows, saying to the man,

"Will you now? And what would prompt such an act of charity?"

"My son," the man said quietly, receiving a shocked look from Will. "He's my son."

"No," Laura whispered under her breath so that no one else would hear.

Jones began heartily laughing as he said,

"What fortuitous circumstance be this! Five lashes be owed, I believe it is."

At this he offered the lash to Bootstrap.

"No," he gruffly stated. "No, I won't!"

"The cat's out of the bag, Mr. Turner!" Jones victoriously cried. "Your issue will feel its sting, be it by the bo'sun's hand or your own."

"No!" Bootstrap said again.

"Bo'sun…" Davy began, before Bootstrap grabbed the lash from him.

"No!" he repeated.

Laura forced herself to watch her brother be lashed by their father.

It tore at her heart and, at the same time, fueled her anger at the betrayal she had experienced so many years before, and yet was still affected by.

She found herself glad for the rain as it hid the quiet tears she was shedding for her brother's pain.

Afterwards, she followed Bootstrap and Will down below decks (actually, Will was thrown down).

"William…" Bootstrap began.

"I don't need your help!" Will yelled at him as he rocked back and forth from the pain.

"The bo'sun prides himself on cleaving flesh from bone with every swing," Bootstrap explained.

"So I am to understand that what you did was an act of compassion!" Will snapped back at him.

"Yes," was the calm answer.

During this time, Laura had been fishing through a cabinet at the side of the room.

-I'm surprised that I didn't encounter this Bootstrap wanna-be last time I was here-

"Will," she summoned her brother after finding the bottle she wanted, "come here. I think I found something for the pain."

As she gently applied the cool salve on her brother's still-exposed back, Bootstrap asked her,

"How do you know your way around here so well? I heard the captain order you to fetch him a bottle of our precious little rum and you had no trouble in finding it. That I am aware of, only long-time crewmembers know their way around that well."

Bootstrap had been suspiciously watching her ever since her arrival, as if he recognized her, but couldn't quite place her.

"Umm…" she began. "I suppose I simply find my way around new places easily. It's a gift."

"Hmm," was the man's only response as he handed a vest to Will.

"One hundred years before the mast," he began, changing the subject, "losing your world bit by bit, until you end up…end up like poor Wyvern here." At this, he motioned to what appeared to be a man, though part of the ship's side. "Once you've sworn an oath to the _Dutchman_, there's no leaving it. Not until your debt is paid."

-At least he has a decent excuse for not remembering me-

"I've sworn no oath," Will said.

"Neither have I," Laura added.

"Then you must get away," Bootstrap urged.

"Not until I find this," Will countered. "The key."

Suddenly, Wyvern popped half out of the wall.

"The Dead Man's Chest!" he exclaimed.

"What do you know of this?" the older sibling questioned.

"Open the chest with the key, and stab the heart. No, no don't stab the heart. The _Dutchman_ needs a living heart, or there'll be no Captain. And if there's no Captain, there's no one to have the key," Wyvern warned.

"So the Captain has the key? Where is the key?"

"Hidden."

"Where is the chest?"

"Hidden," the man repeated as he went back into the wall.

--

"I wager ten years," Laura heard the hammerhead man say the next day as she stood next to Will observing a game which three of the crewmembers were playing with dice.

"I'll match ten years," Pufferfish stated, followed by the third player.

"Agreed."

As the three began arguing, Bootstrap stood next to Will and asked him,

"Wondering how it's played?"

"I understand," Will answered. "It's a game of deception, but your bet includes all the dice, not just you own. What are they wagering?"

"Oh, the only thing we have," the older man replied, "…years of service."

"So any crewmember can be challenged?"

"Aye, anyone."

"I challenge Davy Jones," Will said, loud enough for most of the crew on deck to hear.

The fish/men laughed as the thumping of Davy's peg-leg could be heard approaching.

"I accept, mate," he stated, once in view. "The stakes?"

"My soul," Will answered. "An eternity of servitude."

"No," Bootstrap fretted under his breath, however Laura, who had been left standing next to the man she still thought of as a traitor, said nothing as she attempted to decipher the underlying reason for Will's bet, one of the many traits that she had acquired during her partnership with Jack.

"Against?" Jones was asking.

"I want this," Will replied, dropping the cloth on the table: the cloth which had started the adventure.

Picking up the cloth and revealing the key stamp, he quietly asked,

"How do you know of the key?"

"That's not part of the game, is it?" Will asked in turn as he sat down. "You can still walk away."

Davy sat down and showed Will the key, commencing the game.

-So that's what he's up to-

As they set their dice cups face down on the table, a third cup appeared on the table.

"What's this?" Jones asked.

"I'm in," Bootstrap, the owner of the cup, said, "matching his wager."

"No," Will begged him. "Don't do this."

"The die is cast," the older man answered. "I bid three 2's. It's your bid, Captain."

"Four 4's," Davy bid.

"Four 5's," Will added.

It continued around the cycle.

"Six 3's."

"Seven 5's."

"Eight 5's."

Jones victoriously chuckled.

"Welcome to the crew, lad."

"Twelve 5's," Bootstrap said. "Twelve 5's…call me a liar, or up the bid."

"And be called a liar myself for my trouble!" Davy stated, tossing Bootstrap's cup aside. "Bootstrap Bill, you're a liar and you will spend an eternity on this ship! Master Turner," he addressed Will, "feel free to go ashore…the better next time we make port!"

As Jones and the crew walked away laughing, Laura approached the other two Turners as Will was saying to Bootstrap,

"Fool! Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't let you lose," was the answer.

"It was never about winning or losing," Will stated.

"The key," the father wondered, "…you just wanted to know where it was?"

It was finally decided that the siblings would escape just before dawn that night; however, surprises on the_ Dutchman_ were not yet finished in revealing themselves.

--

That evening, as the sun was setting, Laura, Will, and two other crewmen, who happened to somehow be drunk, had just finished the moving of a stray cannon.

As the men were beginning to secure the weapon, Laura caught sight of the sunset.

Sinking below the horizon, the great sphere spread a mix of red, yellow, and orange across the sky.

Suddenly, the cannon's ropes slipped for the grasp of the two crewmen, causing it to roll away as a larger wave rolled under the ship.

The curling rope managed to catch Laura's foot as the drunkards leaned on it for support, giving it more momentum. Unfortunately for Laura, the wheels on the cannons had just been oiled due to their difficulty. The weapon in question pulled the girl's feet out from under her and abruptly stopped at the starboard side.

As the she quickly untangled her foot from the rope, Will ran over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered.

The drunks then ran over to the siblings and began blaming Will for the accident, followed by others of the crew.

-Well, that's not going to happen again-

Seeing the captain step through the small crowd, Laura stood up and faced the mutated pirate.

"It was not of Will's doing, Jones. I can assure you of that," she stated.

"Then who is responsible for this catastrophe!" he angrily said, clearly exaggerating the situation as the railing had barely been cracked..

-Well, he won't believe it if I say that it was the fault of his own crewmembers-

"Me," she bluntly testified.

Between laughs of cruelty, the captain responded,

"Near eight years since you arrived here last as an innocent young girl, gained my trust, if not more, and left with less ceremony then my crew can even remember."

Walking closer to the girl, he continued,

"Well, it seems now is my chance for revenge. I couldn't have asked for better! Gents!"

The pirates were luckily men enough to leave Laura's shirt on as the bo'sun fetched the lash.

The young woman mentally thanked herself for leaving her vest and trench coat below decks.

As the bo'sun raised the whip, an idea presented itself to Laura.

"Just like last time, eh Jones?" she taunted. "You didn't have the courage to do anything dirty yourself then either. It seems you haven't changed a bit."

Furious, Jones grabbed the lash from the bo'sun.

-Goal achieved-

"You always did enjoy getting yourself into trouble."

The first couple of lashes reminded Laura of a paper cut…times twenty.

"No wonder you usually don't do this yourself. You don't want to reveal your weakness," she continued teasing through clenched teeth, as she refused to show how much her back hurt.

"That is the last time you test my patience, Laura Lark Turner!" he yelled back at her.

After eight lashes, the captain finally gave up.

"Let that be a lesson to all who wish to taunt me."

As she was dragged towards the stairs leading back below deck, Laura caught a glimpse of Will and Bootstrap's gaping mouths.

Below decks, Laura was putting her vest on to cover the shredded back of her shirt and going to find some rum when the two still-bewildered men came to stand next to her.

She couldn't help but look at Will and begin laughing.

"I'm your sister," she stated while trying to contain her painful chuckling.

"But…" Will began, though he could not find the words to continue the sentence.

Half-guessing another part of the men's confusion, she slowly explained to her brother,

"About eight years ago, six months after you left to find Bootstrap here, I snuck onto a ship. It was captured by Davy Jones; he admired my resoluteness, which made me seem older than I actually was; however, he saw through the mask of courage. I succeeded in my goal of winning his confidence by working as hard as I could, and also got away with not swearing myself to the _Dutchman_. Looking back on it, I almost regret doing that to him. He acted as if I was his daughter. Anyway, in the end, I successfully used the leverage to escape unnoticed one night. Nevertheless, I didn't get away without my scars to show for it."

-I hate giving explanations that are required to be long-

"I knew that you seemed familiar, however…" Bootstrap, in turn, lost his words.

"Well, some reunion, eh?" the girl joked, taking a swig of the rum.

The three Turners finally decided to act casual with the situation.

--

Dawn was nearly upon them when Will went into the Captain's Cabin to steal the key from a sleeping Jones, while Bootstrap and Laura wordlessly waited for his return after the former had replaced the man at the helm and prepared for the siblings' departure.

"Come with us," Laura insisted, finally giving into the fact that the man was her father.

"You should know as well as anyone that I can't," he answered as Will returned with the key.

Bootstrap had given Laura a sword, worn from age, but sturdy, and then handed a knife to Will.  
"Here," he offered, "take this too. Now get yourselves to land and stay there. It was always in my blood to die at sea, but it was not a fate I ever wanted for you two."

"It's not a fate you had to choose for yourself, either," Will said thoughtfully.

"I could say I did what I had to when I left you to go pirating, but it would taste a lie to say it wasn't what I wanted. You own me nothing, Will. Laura, out of the two of you, I thought that Will would be the first to become a pirate. Turned out I was far from right. Now go."

"Actually, father, I wasn't truly a pirate until recently," Laura explained prior to lowering the boat.

"They'll know you helped us," Will said to Bootstrap.

"What more can they do to me?" the man asked, half serious and half joking.

"I take this with a promise," Will continued, holding the knife up. "I'll find a way to sever Jones' hold on you and not rest until this blade pierces his heart. I will not abandon you. I promise."

Once again standing next to her brother, Laura added,

"He means "we" on all of that, by the way. I do not intend to lose my father just after finding him."

At that, the twins got into the boat, and rowed as far away from the _Dutchman_ as possible.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	11. Where Loyalties Lie

Thanks Kairi's-twin and LM1991 for your reviews!

Where Loyalties Lie

Soon after dawn, Will and Laura were finally picked up by a passing merchant ship.

As they climbed up the ladder to the deck, Laura stated to brother,

"Thank goodness this ship came along. I would have gone crazy if I was cooped up on that boat any longer."

All that Will said in response was,

"I noticed."

A few minutes later, they found themselves in the Captain's Cabin with warm drinks and blankets, for a chilly wind had picked up a bit during their excursion.

"Strange thing to come upon a longboat so far out in open waters," the captain was saying.

"Just put as many leagues behind us as you can, as fast as you can," Will insisted.

"And what are we running from?" the captain doubtfully questioned.

"It depends on how superstitious you are," Laura answered as Will stood to pick up a dress which was draped over one of the chairs.

"That dress," he pointed out. "Where did you get it?"

"It was found aboard the ship," Bellamy, the captain, replied. "The men thought it was an omen of ill fate."

"That's foolish," Will said, fingering the cloth.

"Ah, yes, exceedingly foolish," one of the sailors agreed, followed by a second present crewmember.

"It brought good fortune, though. The spirit told us pull in at Tortuga, and we made a nice bit of profit there."

"Off the books, of course," Bellamy put in.

"I imagine some of your crew may have jumped ship there," the older Turner suggested.

-Elizabeth?-

"Why do you ask?" the captain queried before another sailor entered and reported,

"Captain, a ship's been spotted."

"Colors?"

"She isn't flying any," was the answer.

"Pirates!" the captain exclaimed.

"Or worse," Will suggested before Laura could take offence to the captain's suggestion.

Will and Laura managed to climb up near the crow's nest. As they were standing on the top-most mast, Will whispered,

"I've doomed us all."

"We should warn them of what to expect," Laura urgently proposed.

"It's the _Flying Dutchman_!" her brother called down to the crew.

-Perhaps they could have used more detail-

Suddenly, the ship grounded on something, causing the Turners to lose their balance.

"Well this isn't good," the younger sibling pointed out as she put her long trench coat sleeves between her hands and the rope she was dangling from, preparing to slide down.

-This coat is going to be worn through before I've had it a month!-

While the girl was still only halfway down, the Kraken, the source of the attack, ripped apart the mast to which Laura's rope was attached. The strong jerk caused her to go somersaulting out into the water about ten feet away from the starboard side of the ship. Her first agenda was to swim to a floating wooden box so that she could rest while looking for her brother. She caught sight of him diving into the water precariously close to the still-attacking Kraken.

"Well," she uneasily said, thinking out loud, "the closest to danger, the farther from harm…I'm crazy."

She began swimming towards the _Dutchman_, with the crate as cover against any unwanted eyes. By the time she reached the front, Laura was practically under the box, for fear of a crewman seeing her.

Then, she spotted Will reaching down from the bow to help her climb up into the wooden jaws: a perfect hiding spot.

"Are there survivors?" she hoarsely whispered. "Will, where are the survivors?"

"Jones had them killed," he answered.

"All of them?" Laura questioned again, not believing her ears.

"All of them," her brother sadly confirmed.

After some time in somber silence, Will picked up a quiet conversation.

"So, you're my sister?"

"Aye," was the reply.

"I lied to you the first time on the _Interceptor_, when you asked me if I left, or remembered leaving, any siblings behind," he continued. "I didn't trust you at first…and, though you did seem familiar, I refused to admit to myself that my sister was a…" He cut off when Laura raised her eyebrows.

"…a pirate?" she finished for him. "In that case, you should know that it came as quite a shock to me when I learned your name in that prison at Port Royal. I thought that you were dead, after I heard that your ship was destroyed all those years ago."

"Then neither of us expected to see each other in those circumstances," Will put in. "Did you really think I had forgotten you?"

"Yes," Laura answered, getting a raised eyebrow from Will at her un-Jack-like speech.

Rolling her eyes, the girl caught sight of an island at a distance. She followed her brother in easing off of the ship and into the water undetected, swimming towards the beach.

Several minutes later, they dragged themselves onto the sand, listening to the conversation occurring not far from their position.

"It's real!" a woman's voice exclaimed.

"You actually were telling the truth," a heavily British accented man wondered.

"I do that quite a lot," a casual voice answered, clearly belonging to Jack, "yet people are always surprised."

Will had already stood up, water still seeping out of his clothes, and was walking towards the group.

"With good reason!" the older Turner commented.

The woman, who turned out to be Elizabeth, cried out,

"Will!" as she ran to him. "You're all right! Thank God! I came to find you!"

Laura was about to race over to Jack and embrace him, until she remembered that it was because of Jack that she and her brother had nearly been stranded on the _Dutchman_.

Then she caught sight of Norrington, the owner of the British accent.

"Ah, Commodore!" she greeted.

"Because of you and your captain, former Commodore," he grumbled in response at the same time Jack questioned Will,

"How did you get here?"

"Sea-turtles, mate," Will replied. "A pair of them strapped to my feet."

"With me in tow," Laura added.

"Not so easy, is it?" Jack played right along.

"But Laura and I do owe you thanks, Jack," Will continued.

"You do?" the captain queried, looking back and forth between the twins.

"After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones…" Will waited for Elizabeth to exclaim,

"What?" followed by Jack trying to put the blame on someone other than himself,

"What?"

"…I was reunited with my father," Will finished.

"And," Laura put in, masking her fury rather well, "thanks to you, Jack…I don't have to hide my identity anymore, since, being on that ship with Will, Jones announced my true name to his entire crew and then some. Did you think I wouldn't catch on to your scheme of leaving Will to do the dangerous part of your mission? Which brings to mind…why didn't you come back for me?"

Jack was giving her the shifty eyes.

"Now, come on, Jack! You think I don't know that you eavesdropped on me at Tia Dalma's hut?"

Laura didn't know whether it was the revelation of her name or Jack leaving her that was the main reason she held the captain in contempt.

"Oh, well, you're welcome, then," the captain responded. He was vocally ignoring her comment concerning the abandonment, though his face did display slight guilt.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Norrinton were looking rather confused.

"Elizabeth," Laura began, "since you're going to find out eventually, I might at well tell you…my real name is Laura Turner…I'm Will's sister."

The governor's daughter, who looked more like a pirate in her pants, shirt, and vest, rounded on Jack in frustration.

"Everything you said to me, every word was a lie!"

"Pretty much," Jack confirmed. "Time and tide, luv."

As Will knelt down next to the chest, pulling out his knife and the key, while Laura stood looking over his shoulder, it became Jack's turn for questions.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill Jones," the older Turner stated.

Pulling out his sword, Jack countered Will.

"I can't let you do that William. 'Cause if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh? Now, if you please, the key."

Grabbing Elizabeth's sword from its sheath, Will answered,

"I keep the promises I make, Jack. I intend to free my father, and I hope you're here to see it."

Laura drew her weapon at the same time as Norrington, who was saying,

"I can't let you do that either. So sorry."

"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually," Jack said to the former Commodore, only to get Norrington's sword pointed at him.

"I'm glad you're on my side," Will whispered to Laura.

She, in response, pointed her sword at him, stating,

"Will, right now, I am still at least partially loyal to Jack, however he may have betrayed me. I'm just thinking that maybe both agendas can be fulfilled."

"Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest," Norrington said, aiming his weapon at Jack, causing the captain to point his sword at Laura, Laura to Will, and Will to Norrinton. The piratess mentally laughed at their little circle. "I deliver it, I get my life back."

-Will or Jack…who do I side with? I promised to stab the heart for my father, but I can't let the Kraken continue to hunt Jack…well, I suppose I could get the key now and decide later. Hmm, good idea!-

"Ah, the dark side of ambition," the captain had responded.

"Oh," Norrington countered, "I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption."

That seemed to be the cue for all four of them to begin fighting with each other.

"This is barbaric!" Laura could hear the swordless Elizabeth yelling in the background.

The girl actually found the fight to be rather exhilarating. None of them were actually trying to kill the others. The only real danger was not ending up with the key in the end.

While they were still on the beach, Jack grabbed the key from Will and ran inland, while Norrinton threw Will to the ground, kicking sand in his face.

"Will, are you alright?" Laura asked, temporarily dropping out of the chase to see if her brother was alright.

"Choose a side, Laura," he snapped back at her before running after Jack.

Growling, she chased after the group.

By the time the young woman caught up, the others were in the ruins of an abandoned church. They had somehow caused the bell to ring.

-Oh yes, announce our position, thank you-

Knowing that they would leave the building at some point, Laura stayed outside until the other three fought their way onto an open part of the roof.

Jack once again obtained the key, lost his sword, and was cornered by Will and Norrington.

"Do excuse me while I kill the man who ruined my life," the former Commodore explained to Will.

"Be my guest."

"Let us examine that claim for a moment, former Commodore, shall we?" Jack interrupted, trying to buy time. "Who was it who, at the very moment you had a notorious pirate safely behind bars, saw fit to free said pirate, and take your dearly beloved all to hisself? So whose fault is it really that you've wound up a rum-pot deckhand what takes orders from pirates?"

"Enough!" Norrington yelled, failing in his goal of Jack taking a hit, while the pirate, in fact, somersaulted off the roof and onto the ground.

Watching Jack walk by, Laura heard Norrington continue,

"Unfortunately, Mr. Turner, he's right!"

"Still rooting for you, mate," Jack was calling out to Norrington prior to falling into an open grave.

"Well, Jack," Laura began as she looked down at her captain, "it seems that you're the one with the key."

Standing, Jack responded,

"Chosen a side, yet, luv?"

"Hmm," the younger Turner answered, "you must understand my situation, Jack. You're my captain, Will is my brother…it's a rather difficult choice. Of course, you're the traitor at the moment."

Suddenly, the water wheel connected to the church came loose, with the two fighters on it, and rolled over Jack, picking him up as it gathered speed.

"Bugger," Laura stated, running after the rolling transport.

She was trotting along-side the wheel as it traveled into the forest, when she heard something metal come in contact with someone's head, followed by seeing Jack fall out.

As Laura knelt to ask Jack if he was alright, the captain got up and began the chase again.

Once again catching up with the wheel, the two pirates rejoined the action. Jack ran in the middle like a hamster, while Laura grabbed the outside for a free ride up to the top.

She caught sight of Will swinging into the middle and began fighting with Norrington.

The former Commodore then swung himself into the wheel after Will, followed by Jack climbing onto the top. Laura soon found Jack's arm around her waist as he grasped an overhanging palm leaf, successfully lifting both pirates off of the wheel as it plunged down a steep incline.

Landing on the ground, Jack released his hold on Laura and asked,

"I assume you chose my side and I don't have to fight you?"

"For now," the girl answered.

She watched as her captain picked up a coconut from the ground and threw it at a conch-headed member of Jones' crew. It successfully knocked the fish/man's head off.

Running after Jack, Laura noticed that the crewman had been attempting to run off with the chest.

"The last thing we need is to have them running around," she commented, motioning to the headless body walking around, while Jack put the key into the chest's lock.

"Inedo! Inedo!" the head was calling to his torso. "Follow my voice. Follow my voice. Turn left. Turn around. Go to the right. No…that's a tree."

"Oh, shut it," Jack told the conch-head as he lifted the lid, revealing the heart of Davy Jones.

Hearing the sounds of a nearing battle, Jack stuffed the heart into his vest pocket and began racing towards the shore, closely followed by Laura.

As soon as he reached the longboat, Jack was heard by his companion saying,

"Jar of dirt!"

Directly after Jack had placed the heart in his jar of dirt, they were attacked by man with the head of a puffer-fish.

Suddenly, the water-wheel came rolling onto the beach, running over several of Jones' crewmembers and causing all of the standing fighters to pause in their action.

When the wheel tipped over onto its side in the shallow water, the fighting quickly commenced.

Minutes later, Laura's eyes happened to glance at the jar of dirt as she gained a reprieve from the conflict.

The jar was moved from where Jack had dropped it and the captain's coat had been disturbed.

Just as she was about to tell Jack of her suspicion, he caught sight of her peering into the boat.

He must have assumed that she wanted to steal the heart, because, before she knew it, the oar which Jack had been using to defend himself soon met her head, causing Laura to fall into the boat, unconscious.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	12. More Than Imagined

Author's Note: Well, here is the end of "Dead Man's Chest"! I'm trying to get through Pirates of the Caribbean as fast as possible because now I have whole bunch of Lord of the Rings detail ideas…yes, Lord of the Rings is next on my list of fanfiction to-do's. Enjoy!

More Than Imagined

When Laura awoke, she first looked around to take in her surroundings.

She was lying next to a still unconscious Will on the deck of the _Pearl_.

Sitting up, she also noticed that Elizabeth was sitting next to Will.

The other woman looked up from her lover to glance at Laura, who had put her head in her hands, surprised that she did not have a huge bump from the swing of Jack's oar.

"Are you really Will's sister?" Elizabeth asked.

"Long-lost, yes," the piratess replied. "Are you and Will really in love?"

Reverted eyes were her only answer, so she continued,

"You deserve each other, Elizabeth. Know that."

Laura stood and walked to the ship's port side, out of hearing range, as Will stirred.

Suddenly, the _Flying Dutchman_ burst out of the water alongside the _Black Pearl_.

Jack, with his jar of dirt, called out to Davy Jones,

"Hey, fish face! Lose something? Congealy…"

The funny little speech was cut off as Jack fell down the stairs. Seconds later, he held up the jar victoriously before jumping up from the floor himself.

"Got it!" he continued. "Come to negotiate, eh? You slimy git! Look what I got."

Then, in a sing-songy voice, he said,

"I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt! And guess what's inside it!"

"Enough!" Jones could be heard saying.

As if he had made specific orders, the _Dutchman_'s cannons all popped out of their holes, ready to fire.

"Hard to starboard?" Jack questioningly ordered.

As orders were shot back and forth, Laura followed Jack back up to the helm and watched as the chasing craft slowing fell behind.

"They're giving up!" Marty called when the hunt seemed to be given up completely.

-That was too easy-

"My father is on that ship," Will said to Jack. "If we can outrun her, we can take her. We should stand and fight."

Laura was too deep in thought to care about the present argument.

"Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leverage," Jack responded. Just as those words left the captain's mouth, the jar went crashing down from its perch on the railing and onto the deck below, caused by the ship grounding on something.

Horrified at her realization, Laura ran to reload her gun, ignored by everyone else.

"Musta hit a reef!" one of the crew assumed.

"No," Will countered, clearly realizing the danger as Laura did and pulling Elizabeth away from the ship's side, "it's not a reef! Get away from the rail."

"What is it?" the other woman asked.

"The Kraken," he answered. "To arms!"

"Load the guns!" Gibbs ordered. "Defend the mast!"

"It'll attack the starboard," Will explained, "I've seen it before. Run out the cannons and hold for my signal!"

"Steady…steady," he said as the frightened sailors watched the giant tentacles coming up the side of the ship.

"Will?" Elizabeth muttered while pointing a lance at the reaching arm.

"Hold…hold…"

"Will?" Laura also questioned, soon followed by Elizabeth yelling,

"WILL!"

"Fire!"

The crew cried out in victory as the Kraken sank back down from the canon fire.

Laura ran up to the helm, sword still drawn, in hopes of finding Jack, but the captain was nowhere in sight.

Looking around in dismay as the crew prepared some knew defense again the Kraken, the girl noticed the longboat some distance from the ship. It could have only been one person: Jack.

"You couldn't have," Laura whispered.

Suddenly, the Kraken came back with an attack so ferocious that the piratess was nearly knocked off her feet at first from the shock of it.

Her first thought was to defend the helm with the thought of it being Jack's favorite part, until she brought herself to realize that they would be going nowhere without the mast (or any other part of the ship for that matter).

When Laura reached the deck, she had to practically dance so as to not be caught by the Kraken's flailing tentacles.

Then she caught sight of Will on a hanging mass of rum and gunpowder held by a net some fifteen feet in the air. His foot was stuck in the netting and he was desperately trying to cut it loose.

As he fell to the deck floor close to his sister, Laura noticed what the kegs were for. Dropping down at the same time as Will, the bundle exploded, sending pieces of Kraken flying everywhere. Standing, the girl heard Marty question the first mate,

"Did we kill it?"

"No," the other man replied, "we just made it angry. We're not out of this yet. Captain! Orders!"

Laura hadn't realized that Jack had returned. She almost ran to him, but caught herself. Even if he did come back, the captain had left her and the crew to fend for themselves.

-I'll question him about that later-

"Abandon ship. Into the longboat," he ordered.

Everyone froze in place.

Gibbs voiced what all of them were probably thinking.

"Jack! The _Pearl_."

"She's only a ship, mate," Jack sadly responded before walking to the mast, deep in thought.

"He's right," Elizabeth reciprocated. "We have to head for land."

Ignoring the rest of the conversation, Laura walked up to Jack. All she wanted to do was to comfort him, tell him that everything would be alright, but she was always a bad liar, so she instead said,

"I'm so sorry, Jack. After you reclaimed the _Pearl_, I assumed that I was going to spend the rest of my on it by your side…not running from Jones' feared leviathan."

"You know that you don't have to run with me, luv," the captain commented.

-I've traveled with you for more than five years…why would I leave now?-

Laura quickly pivoted and strolled over to where the rest of the crew was.

Soon, most of the remaining crew sat in the longboat. Laura was standing in the craft, handing guns to the men from Will, who was on the ladder passing the weapons down from Gibbs on the deck.

Abruptly, the older Turner stopped giving the guns to Laura. Seeing that her brother was staring at something, she quickly stepped onto the ladder next him.

Betrayal and jealousy flooded the girl as her eyes settled on the sight of Elizabeth passionately kissing the captain on the deck. She was too stunned to react the way she felt as Gibbs began climbing down the ladder and forcing the twins to get into the boat.

"Prepare to cast off! There's no time to lose!" the first mate was calling as he climbed. "C'mon Will! Laura, step to!"

Elizabeth, without Jack, followed close behind.

"Where's Jack?" Will crossly asked her.

"He elected to stay behind to give us a chance," the woman replied. "Go!"

Glancing at Elizabeth's guilty face, Laura relied on her instinct telling her that Jack wouldn't do something like that if the fate of an entire town depended on it.

"Liar!" she yelled, rushing toward the ladder, already five feet away, only to get held back by Pintel, Ragetti, and Cotton. "Jack!" she cried out.

Laura didn't give up her struggle to leave the boat until they were a good fifty feet from the ship and the Kraken's tentacles could be seen crawling up the sides for a final attack.

Moments later, the ship of legends was dragged down to the depths.

No one spoke, even after they reached Tia Dalma's hut.

The only noise for some time was the thumping of Will throwing Bootstrap's knife into the table, until Tia Dalma offered Elizabeth a drink, saying,

"Against the cold, and the sorrow."

Next, she presented the drink-filled tray to Will.

"It's a shame," she said. "I know you're thinking that with the _Pearl_, you could have captured the Devil and set free your father's soul."

"It doesn't matter now," he replied. "The _Black Pearl_ is gone, along with its captain."

"Aye," Gibbs agreed, taking a drink, followed by the other crewmen, "and already the world seems a bit less bright. He fooled us all right till the end, but I guess that honest streak finally won out."

As Laura hesitantly took the last cup from Tia, the woman addressed her,

"You try hard to deny that Jack Sparrow was more than a captain to you."

"He was a good friend," Laura answered, trying to keep the shakiness from her voice.

When Tia opened her mouth to further comment, Gibbs raised his mug, offering a toast.

"To Jack Sparrow!"

"Never another like Captain Jack!" Ragetti stated, lifting his cup, followed by Pintel and the others.

"He was a gentleman of fortune, he was."

"He was a good man," Elizabeth finished as everyone took a drink.

After this, Will turned to the woman.

"If there was anything that could be done to bring him back…Elizabeth…"

He was interrupted by Tia Dalma, who asked,

"Would you do it? What would you, what would any of you be willing to do? Would you sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond to fetch back witty Jack and him precious _Pearl_?"

"Aye," Laura affirmed, soon followed by Gibbs. The rest of the crew, including the parrot, followed in suite.

Last of all were Elizabeth and Will.

"All right!" Tia stated triumphantly. "But if you're going to brave the weird and haunted shores at World's End, then you will need a captain who knows those waters."

Barbossa appeared, coming down the stairs, with Jack the monkey on his shoulder.

-Oh, anyone by him-

"So tell me, what's become of my ship?" he asked, biting into an apple and hysterically laughing.

The next chapter will start at the beginning of "At World's End". I hope you enjoyed this, so far, as much as I have. Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	13. Neutral Soil

Thanks Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights and Kairi's-twin for your reviews!

Neutral Soil

After strenuous planning, Laura, Will, Barbossa, Tia Dalma, Elizabeth, and the remainder of Jack's crew finally traveled to Singapore. It had been decided that Will would fetch the charts which would direct them on their voyage from one of the great temples of the country. Laura, Barbossa, and Elizabeth, on their part, would go to the pirate lord, Sao Feng, and request a ship and crew, with the rest of their own crew prepared to attack if something went wrong.

At the time agreed, Laura climbed into a boat with Elizabeth at the inn they were staying at (the others had spent the night in several different locations so as to not attract too much attention).

About halfway to Sao Feng's bath-house, their meeting place, Laura quietly sang while she paddled,

"The queen and his men stole the queen from her bed and bound her in the bones. The seas be ours and by the powers, where we will we'll row. Yo ho, all hands. Hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die…"

When Laura finished the second section, Elizabeth continued onto the next verse,

"The bell has been raised from its watery grave; hear its sepulchral tone? A call to all, pay heed the squall, and turn your sails to home! Yo ho, all together, hoist the colors high. Heave ho, thieves…"

As they climbed onto the dock, a local stopped in front of them and interrupted,

"…thief and beggar, never say we die. A dangerous song to be singing, for anyone ignorant of its meaning. Particularly two women…particularly two women alone."

"What makes you think they're alone?" Barbossa asked, coming down a set of nearby stairs.

"You protect them?" the man questioned in turn before Elizabeth held a knife to his throat as Laura casually stood aside.

"And what makes you think I need protecting?" the woman hissed.

"We…she means we," the young Turner corrected.

"Your master's expectin' us," Barbossa continued while Elizabeth removed the dagger. "An unexpected death would cast a slight pall on our meetin'."

As they were led towards the bath-house entrance, Elizabeth spoke to Barbossa.

"Have you heard anything from Will?"

"I trust young Turner to acquire the charts, and you to remember your place in the presence of Captain Sao Feng," the gruff captain stated.

"Is he really that terrifying?" the other woman doubtfully queried.

-Since this all started, she has seemed more of a pirate than a governor's daughter-

Laura nervously laughed at Elizabeth's misgivings as Barbossa answered,

"He's much like myself, but absent my merciful nature and sense of fair play."

-Merciful? Fair? You're joking-

The native man led them down an alley to a guarded door and brought them in.

At the inner entrance, the three pirates were required to hand over their weapons.

Removing the long robe she had been wearing, it was revealed that Laura had stubbornly kept her usual garb on, while Elizabeth had changed completely into the traditional clothes of Singapore.

Barbossa openly rolled his eyes at the young Turner's obstinacy as the girl placed her sword, two daggers, pointed hair pin, causing her hair to flow over her shoulders, and two "borrowed" pistols on the table while her companions did the same.

When Elizabeth tried to go further into the building, the man stopped her.

"You think because she is a woman we would not suspect her of treachery?" he asked.

"Well, when you put it that way," Barbossa sarcastically reacted.

"Remove, please," the man continued.

Glaring at him, the other woman slipped out of her hat and robe, revealing an armory-worth of weapons over her Singaporean garb.

It was Laura's turn to roll her eyes as Elizabeth set a gun harness, several grenades, guns, and a miniature cannon on the counter.

When she tried walking through a second time, the man stopped again.

"Remove, please," he asked again with a sly grin.

They were finally able to go after Elizabeth had removed her pants, leaving only the almost knee-long blouse.

Walking through the hot and steamy bath-house, Laura saw that several of the men sitting in the tubs had plant-life growing on them, giving evidence that they had been there for a considerable time.

At last reaching the far end of the building, a bald man could be seen standing in the steam with his back turned to them.

Barbossa encouraged his companions to bow. Laura only slightly bent a knee as Sao Feng turned to face them.

-I can't believe I'm allying myself with one of my sworn enemies-

"Captain Barbossa," he began, not even glancing in Laura's direction. "Welcome to Singapore."

Turning to a servant, he ordered,

"More steam," before turning back to his guests.

"I understand you have a request to make of me."

"More of a proposal to put to ye," Barbossa corrected. "I have a venture underway and happen to find myself in need of a ship and a crew."

"This is an odd coincidence," the other man thoughtfully said.

"Because you happen to have a ship and a crew you don't need?" Elizabeth boldly suggested.

"No," Sao Feng contradicted, grabbing a roll of charts from one of his attendants. "Because, earlier this day, not far from here, a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple and tried to make off with these: the navigational charts. The route to the farthest gate. Wouldn't it be amazing if this venture of yours took you to the world beyond this one?"

"It would strain credulity at that," Barbossa responded.

With a simple movement as an order from Sao Feng, two men standing on either side of the nearest tub, which appeared empty, lifted up on a submerged horizontal pole. It turned out that Will was attached to the pole as he stood up gasping for air.

-I wonder how he held his breath for that long. Not quite according to his plan-

Taking out a pointed stake, Sao Feng continued,

"This is the thief. Is his face familiar to you?"

All three of them shook their heads.

Elizabeth gasped and Laura held her breath as the pirate lord moved to stab Will with the stake.

It wasn't until Sao Feng abruptly discontinued his action that Laura realized that he had simply been testing their honesty.

She grasped her trench coat as the pirate looked back at them, resisting the urge to hide her face from him. The girl was not looking forward to the moment when the notorious man recognized her.

"So," he said, "you come into my city, and betray my hospitality."

"Sao Feng, I assure you, I had no idea…" Barbossa began, only to be cut off as Sao Feng retorted,

"That he would get caught?! You intend to attempt a voyage to Davy Jones' locker. When I cannot help but wonder, why?"

Tossing a piece of eight to the pirate lord, Barbossa replied,

"The song has been sung. The time is upon us. We must convene the Brethren Court. As one of the nine pirate lords you must honor the call."

"More steam," Sao Feng offhandedly ordered.

When the attendant pulled the lever and no steam quickly rose, he insisted,

"More steam!"

The woman pulled the lever again, actually getting what was requested that time.

"There's a price on all our heads, it is true," he went on. "Since it seems that the only way a pirate can turn a profit anymore is by betraying other pirates."

"The first Brethren Court gave us rule of the seas," Barbossa responded. "That rule has been challenged by Lord Cutler Beckett."

"Against the East India Trading Company, what value is the Brethren Court? What can any of us do?"

"You can fight!" Elizabeth broke in as a man behind her tried to keep her from approaching Sao Feng. "Get off me! You are Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore. Would you have that era come to an end on your watch? The most notorious pirates from around the world are uniting against our enemy, and yet you sit here, cowering in your bath water!"

"Elizabeth Swann," the pirate addressed her, circling like a vulture, "there's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there? And the eye does not go wanting. But I cannot help but notice. You have failed to answer my question. What is it you seek in Davy Jones' locker?"

"Jack Sparrow," Will put in. "He's one of the pirate lords."

"The only reason I would want Jack Sparrow returned from the land of the dead," Sao Feng growled, "…is so I can send him back myself! And you along with him!" he loudly added pointing at Laura. "Laura Lark, did you think you wouldn't be remembered here as the thief who stole Jack Sparrow from my deepest dungeons along with yourself the night before your execution all those years ago?"

The piratess quickly looked around for an escape, but as two men grabbed her arms to guard against that, she settled on talking her way out of the situation.

"To correct you on one point, Sao Feng," she said, "you would have regretted executing Jack anyway since he is, after all, one of the pirate lords. Secondly, the only reason I also ended up in your filthy dungeons was because I happened be in the same place as one of your men when he stole that piece of rock you call a precious metal. To sum up that day into one sentence, you blamed me rather than your treacherous lapdog, sent me to the dungeon, and I broke out with Jack…you made the mistake of building those with half pin-barrel hinges."

-I'll leave out reminding him that I was here originally following rumors of the famed captain's location-

"I will have your head, yet," the captain angrily hissed.

"Why?" Laura retorted. "Because I robbed you of your chance to kill Captain Jack Sparrow, the hardest-to-catch pirate in the seven seas?"

"Another one of your old friends that you haven't told me about, Laura?" Will put in.

"Going back to our original subject," Barbossa interrupted, glaring at Laura, "…Jack Sparrow holds one of the nine pieces of eight. He failed to pass it along to a successor before he died. So we must go and get him back."

"So, you admit, you have deceived me. Weapons!"

On that cue, the entourage was surrounded by Singaporeans with swords drawn.

"Sao Feng, I assure you, our intentions are strictly honorable," Barbossa haggled just before six swords flew up through the floorboards from the crew underneath, a pair for each of the three.

Holding his sword to a native's neck, Sao Feng ordered,

"Drop your weapons or I kill the man!"

"Kill him, he's not our man," Barbossa offered.

"If he's not with you, and he's not with us…who's he with?" Will asked just as a mass of British soldiers burst into the room, causing the pirates to band together against their common enemy.

Laura quickly ran over to Will, cut his bonds, and handed him one of her swords as Elizabeth also tossed one of her own.

-Hilarious…he went from being tied up and helpless to formidable and with two swords-

While this was occurring, there was an explosion, causing part of the floor to collapse, giving room for Jack's crew to climb up to ground level and fight the British.

As chaos was erupting around her, Laura grabbed her pistol from Cotton as he handed it to her and ran as fast as she could to where she and Will had agreed to meet.

Approaching the meeting site, she witnessed her brother beginning to exit the hut with the charts in his hand.

"I assume you made the deal as planned?" she asked the older Turner when she caught up to him. When he nodded to confirm that the deal had been made, Laura continued,

"I hope we're doing the right thing."

The siblings gained a crew for their acquired ship as they ran past, finally reaching the dock and meeting the rest of their party.

"You got the charts?" Barbossa asked.

"And better yet," Will replied, tossing the charts to the pirate, "a ship and a crew."

"Where's Sao Feng?" Elizabeth queried.

"He'll cover our escape and meet us at Shipwreck Cove."

At last reaching the small ship and heading out of the dock, Laura ended up standing next to Tia Dalma when Elizabeth walked behind the strange woman.

"There's no place left for Sao Feng to cower."

"I cannot say," Tia responded. "There is an evil on these seas that even the most staunch and bloodthirsty pirates have come to fear."

After Elizabeth had left, leaving Laura alone with Tia, the girl addressed her companion.

"That story you told at your hut about Davy Jones and the woman he fell in love with…it's about you, isn't it."

When Tia looked slightly shocked, the younger Turner continued, motioning to the large heart pendant the other woman was wearing around her neck,

"That pendant. The first time I was on the _Flying Dutchman_, Davy had an exact duplicate of that one on his organ. It took me some time to figure out, but that was more likely than both of you simply stumbling onto these."

Tia Dalma opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again.

"There are some secrets that should not be revealed until a time of their owners choosing," Laura quoted, receiving a grateful smile from the other woman in return.

For some time after that, they simply stared into the distance in silence as Singapore disappeared in the eerie fog.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, please, please R&R.


	14. To the Rescue

Thanks Kairi's-twin for your review!

To the Rescue

The further they sailed, the colder it became. By the next day, it was so much so that everyone and everything was covered in ice.

"No one said anything about cold," Laura heard Pintel complain as she stood at the stern with her trench coat tightly wrapped around herself.

"There must be a good reason for our suffering," Ragetti replied through his chattering teeth.

"Why don't that obay woman just bring back Jack the same way she brought back Barbossa?" Pintel continued.

"Because Barbossa was only dead," Tia Dalma defended, walking towards the two pirates. "Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself. Stretching on forever. That's what awaits at Davy Jones' locker."

"See," Ragetti added, "I knew there was good reason."

Tia then made her way over to where Laura was standing.

Handing the open charts to Barbossa, who was at the helm, Will asked,

"Do you care to interpret, Captain Barbossa?"

"Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?" the pirate-captain questioned the first mate.

"I reckon I seen my fair share," was the answer. "It happens on rare occasion. At the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash of light shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without seeing it, some claim to have seen it that ain't, and some say…"

He was cut off as Pintel enthusiastically finished,

"It signals when a soul comes back to this world, from the dead!"

When Gibbs angrily glared at him, the man put in,

"Sorry."

"Trust me, young Master Turner," Barbossa continued, "it's not gettin' to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back."

--

By the time night came upon them, Laura had lost track of which direction Barbossa was steering them in.

She was, however, happy that they had left the cold area and were back in a warm climate.

Sitting about five feet from Elizabeth at the bow, Laura stared at the water as her brother approached his supposed lover.

The reflecting stars made it seem as if the ship was sailing across the sky.

"How long do we continue not talking?" he quietly asked the other woman.

"Once we rescue Jack, everything will be fine," she answered.

"Once we rescue Jack?" Will doubtfully repeated before Elizabeth slipped away, leaving the young man to be approached by Tia Dalma.

"For what we want most, there is a cost must be paid in the end," she said as the fog became thick and the ship sped up.

"Barbossa, ahead!" Laura heard Will warn their temporary captain at the helm.

Tia Dalma had left to go somewhere in the middle of the vessel, leaving the younger Turner staring into the fog and at what lay ahead. Everyone soon realized that they were about to go over a waterfall, though no one knew where it was or how far down.

The girl's eyes widened as orders were shot back and forth along the boat; however, she ignored them all. Instead, her only thoughts were of whether or not this way led to Jack. If it didn't, she had just sacrificed her life for nothing.

As Laura held onto one of the ropes for dear life, the boat flew over the waterfall and into the abyss below.

Crashing into the water along with her crewmates, the girl lost track of time as she swam towards the only visible land, a beach that stretched farther than the eye could see.

They were all eventually washed up onto the sand with some wreckage from their destroyed ship.

-How did we end up on a beach in the middle of an ocean with blue skies from that fog and darkness?-

"This truly is a godforsaken place," Gibbs commented, looking around at the vast expanse of sand.

"I don't see Jack," Elizabeth pointed out, "I don't see anyone."

"He's here," Barbossa confidently stated. "Davy Jones never once gave up that what he took."

"It doesn't matter," Will said to the pirate. "We're trapped here by your doing, no different than Jack."

As she pet a crab in her hand, Tia Dalma suppressed all of their doubts.

"Witty Jack is closer than you think."

Just as she said this, the_ Black Pearl_ appeared, apparently sailing over the sand dunes and into the water.

Jack, who had been on the top mast, soon stepped onto the beach from one of his ship's boats and began walking towards the crew.

"Impossible," the leader of the Singaporeans wondered as Ragetti pointed out,

"Boat."

"Slap me thrice and hand me to me momma, it's Jack!" Gibbs cried out. "A sight for sore eyes. Jack!"

"Mr. Gibbs," Jack seriously addressed his first mate after approaching him.

"Aye captain."

"I thought so," the captain continued. "I expect you can account for your actions, then?"

"Sir?"

"There has been a perpetual and virulent lack of discipline aboard my vessel! Why is that, sir?"

"Captain," Gibbs whispered as Laura advanced, "you're in Davy Jones' locker."

"I know that," Jack argued, ignoring his previous partner, to her dismay. "I know where I am, and don't think I don't."

"Jack Sparrow," Barbossa greeted.

"Ah, Hector," Jack answered. "It's been too long, hasn't it?"

"Aye, Isla de Muerta, remember? You shot me."

"No I didn't. Ah, Tia Dalma, out and about, eh?" the captain addressed his old friend. "You lend an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium."

"He thinks we're a hallucination," Will stated, causing Laura's joy to go from a nine to the negative.

"William," the pirate responded, "tell me something. Have you come because you need my help to rescue a certain distressing damsel? Or rather a damsel in distress? Either one."

"No."

"Then you wouldn't be here. So you can't be here. Q.E.D. you're not really here."

"Jack," Elizabeth put in, "this is real, we're here."

The captain looked at the woman as if recalling some horrible memory, and walked back over to Gibbs.

"The locker, you say?"

"Aye," the first mate replied.

"We've come to rescue you," the woman insisted, soon receiving a death-glare from Laura.

The two young women had not had a very good relationship since Jack's trip to the locker.

"Have you, now?" Jack questioned. "That's very kind of you. But seeing as I possess a ship and you don't, it seems as though you're the ones in need of rescuing and I'm not sure as I'm in the mood."

"I see my ship," Barbossa countered, pointing at the _Pearl_, "right there."

-Oh, not this again-

"Can't spot it," the captain answered, "must be a tiny little thing hiding somewhere behind the _Pearl_."

"Jack," Will began, "Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones. He controls the _Flying Dutchman_."

"He's taking over the seas," Elizabeth added.

"The song has already been sung. The Brethren Court is called," Tia Dalma said, completing the semicircle around Jack which cut Laura off from him.

"Leave you people alone for a minute and look what's happened," Jack stated, stepping away from the group, "everything's gone to pot."

"Aye, Jack," Gibbs continued. "The world needs you back something fierce."

"And you need a crew," Will finalized.

"Why should I sail with any of you?" the captain questioned. "Four of you have tried to kill me in the past, one of you succeeded."

He motioned to Elizabeth at the last part of his sentence, who in turn received a shocked look from Will and another glare from Laura.

-I sometimes hate it when I'm right-

"Oh, she's not told you? You'll have loads to talk about while you're here," Jack commented while turning to Tia Dalma. "As for you…"

"Now," Tia flirtatiously began, "don't tell me you didn't enjoy it, at the time."

"All right, fair enough," he gave in, turning to Gibbs.

"Gibbs, you can come."

Laura, who was standing slightly behind the first mate, finally caught the eyes of her captain.

"Ah, Laura! You finally decided to come, eh? You're a sight for sore eyes. You can come."

To Ragetti,

"Don't need you, you scare me."

He then continued down the line to the Singaporeans.

"Marty. Cotton. Cotton's parrot, a little iffy, but at least I'll have someone to talk to. Who are you?"

"Tai Huang," the Asian man stated. "These are my men."

"Where do your allegiances lie?"

"With the highest bidder."

"I have a ship."

"That makes you the highest bidder."

"Good man," the captain finished. "Weigh anchor, all hands, prepare to make sail."

Jack opened his compass. When he found it spinning frantically again, he looked at Barbossa, who was holding the charts.

"Jack," the creepy pirate addressed, "which way ya goin', Jack?"

Everyone was allowed on the ship by a reluctant Jack. The fact that he had actually "chosen" Laura simply made her feel worse about what she and her brother had planned.

"Trim that sail!" Barbossa was ordering, soon followed by Jack.

"Trim that sail!"

"Slack windward brace and sheets!"

"Slack windward brace and sheets!"

"Haul that pallet line!"

"Haul that pallet line!"

"What ARE you doing?"

"What are YOU doing?"

"No, what ARE you doing?"

"What are YOU doing?"

"No, what ARE you doing?"

-What are you DOING?-

"What are YOU doing? Captain gives orders on the ship!"

"The captain of this ship is giving orders!"

"My ship, makes me captain."

"They be my charts."

"That makes you…chart man!"

"Stow it!" Pintel burst in. "The both of you! That's an order! Understand?! Sorry. I just thought with the captain issue being in doubt, I'd throw my name in for consideration, sorry."

As the two "captains" shuffled up the stairs to the helm, Laura staggered to the bow, shaking her head from listening too intently to that heated argument.

She remained there by herself until that night when Pintel and Ragetti decided to try fishing there.

The girl calmly watched the people in the water pass them by, figuring that anything could happen at the end of the world; however, Ragetti dropped his fishing pole as Pintel spoke.

"Eerie, that's downright macabre."

"Wonder what would happen if you dropped a cannonball on one of 'em?" the other joker queried before they walked off to attempt their trick.

Meanwhile, Tia Dalma came to stand by Laura.

"They're souls, aren't they," the younger woman asked. "The souls of those who die at sea."

Getting a nod from Tia, she continued,

"I highly doubt that there are usually this many."

"Men now have much to fear on the sea," Tia Dalma replied as the two returned with cannonballs.

They let them roll away on the floor at a look from Tia.

"Be disrespectful, it would," Pintel muttered.

"They should be in the care of Davy Jones," the woman explained. "That was the duty him was charged with by the goddess Calypso. To ferry them who dies at sea to the other side. And every ten years he could come ashore to be with she who love him, truly. But the man has become a monster."

"So he wasn't always…tentacly?" Ragetti asked.

"No, him was a man…once."

"Now it's boats coming," Ragetti pointed out as Gibbs, Will, and Barbossa approached, with Gibbs loading a gun.

"They're not a threat to us," Will said, stopping the first mate before turning to Tia, "am I right?"

"We are nothing but ghosts to them," the woman replied.

"Is best just let them be," Barbossa commented as Laura saw that Elizabeth recognized the passenger of one of the boats.

"It's my father," the young woman cried out, "we've made it back. Father here, look here!"

"Elizabeth," Jack said, "we're not back."

"Father!" the girl stubbornly continued while Laura nervously watched Jack out of the corner of her eye.

"Elizabeth," the governor began, noticing his frantic daughter, "are you dead?"

"No, no," she replied, walking down the ship parallel to the governor.

"I think I am."

"No, you can't be!"

"There was this chest, you see. And a heart. At the time it seemed so important."

"Come aboard!"

Laura couldn't help but feel some compassion for the other woman.

"I learned that if you stab the heart, yours must take its place," the governor went on. "Sail the seas for eternity. The _Dutchman_ must always have a captain. Silly thing to die for."

"Someone cast a line!" Elizabeth called, grabbing a rope from Marty, who was trying to unravel it. "Take the line!"

"A touch of destiny," Tia Dalma muttered to Will.

"Elizabeth, I'm so proud of you," the governor went on as his boat floated by.

"Father, the line, take the line!" the girl insisted, running to the stern of the ship. "Father, come back with us! I won't leave you!"

She was soon held back by Will after Tia had yelled,

"She must not leave the ship!"

"Elizabeth," the older Turner addressed his lover, trying to console her.

"I'll give your love to your mother, shall I?" Mr. Swann questioned while disappearing into the fog.

"Is there a way?" Will asked, with Elizabeth crying into his chest.

-I wish I had someone like that for me. Wait a minute. I'm not jealous of Elizabeth, am I? No, I have never needed a shoulder to lean on, and I certainly won't need it any time soon-

Though exhaustion crept over Laura, she stubbornly turned to lean on the starboard-side rail and glared at the mist surrounding the ship.

-"You try hard to deny that Jack Sparrow was more than a captain to you," Tia Dalma had said. It feels like, just yesterday, the captain and I were adventuring with nothing and no one to keep us apart. It seemed, then, that he was just a friend, but now…-

A single tear slid down the girl's cheek. Slowly wiping it away, she stared at the salty moisture in shock. The last time Laura could remember crying was when her mother had died.

It was almost a relief to let her emotion show, although she did look around to be sure that no one was watching her.

The infamous piratess sighed with relief and closed her eyes, letting a few more tears fall.

--

"Why is all but the rum gone?" Pintel complained the next evening, failing to get any more liquid from the water canister as the blazing sun poured onto the crew.

"Rum's gone too," Gibbs countered after gaining the last drop of fluid from the bottle he was holding, sitting with his back to the other man on the same crate.

"If we cannot escape these doldrums by nightfall," Tia Dalma stated, looking at the setting sun next to Laura, "I fear we will sail trackless seas, doomed to roam the reach between worlds…forever."

"With no water," the first mate added, "forever seems to be arriving a mite too soon."

Licking her cracked lips, Laura walked over to Jack, who was talking to himself while staring at the charts.

"…Stab the heart," he was saying. "Don't stab the heart. Come again? The _Dutchman_ must have a captain. Well that's more than less than unhelpful. Sail the seas forever. I love the sea. What about port? I prefer rum. Rum's good. Making port. Where we can get rum, and salty wenches, once every ten years. What did he say? Once every ten years. Ten years is a long time, mate. But eternity is longer still. Even longer given the deficit of rum. And how will you be spending it? Dead? Or not? The immortal Captain Sparrow. Oh, I like that. Come sunset it won't matter. Not sunset, sundown…and rise."

"Oh, now I see where you're getting, Jack," Laura commented as she looked over the captain's shoulder while he turned part of the chart upside-down.

The part of Jack talking to his shoulders was a side issue. For now, the captain's genius was giving evidence of once again revealing itself.

"Up!" he continued, standing while he randomly pointed off in the distance to get everyone's attention. "Oh, what's that?"

The young woman couldn't help but grin and play along with everyone else following Jack to the starboard side.

"What's that?" he continued. "I don't know, what IS that? What do you think?"

"Where? What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"There!" Jack responded, followed by Laura.

"Don't you see it?"

They all followed the captain in running to the other side, as if pursuing something.

"He's rockin' the ship!" Pintel exclaimed.

"Aye, he's onto it," Barbossa confirmed as nearly the entire crew was scurrying back and forth with the sway of the vessel. "Time it with the swell. Loose the cannons, you stinking bilge rats! Unstow the cargo, let it shift!" he ordered the men below decks.

After nearly five minutes, the _Pearl_ was almost on its side with each motion.

Finally, they succeeded in their goal.

"Now up," Jack stated as they all dangled from the railing, "is down."

Laura took a deep breath and clung to the wood when the ship flipped over, top down, in the ocean.

Seeing her brother lose his grip on his anchor, the girl propelled herself through the water after him.

Reaching the opposite set of shrouds as Will was grasping onto a loose rope, Laura grabbed the young man's sleeve, pulling him to the rope ladder next her.

The exertion left the woman's lungs screaming for air as she noticed a rushing disturbance deeper in the water below them.

I know I know…I'm leaving you holding your breath, but I wanted to get this chapter posted…

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R.


	15. The Traitor

Thanks Kairi's-twin, kit9888, and VampiresRule103 for your reviews!

Author's Note: Replying to Kairi's-twin's comment, I'm just trying to bring out the mistrust and separation. Nearly all of the other characters are going through that in the movie, so I decided it should be that way with Laura. Right now, she's struggling to decide whether she wants to save her father or Jack…in my mind, it's a rather tough choice.

The Traitor

All of a sudden the twins were hurled to the deck by rushing water as the _Pearl_ burst out of the ocean.

While Laura was coughing up the liquid her lungs had tried to take in, Gibbs looked around, saying,

"Blessed sweet westerlies, we're back!"

"It's the sunrise," Elizabeth marveled, looking to the east.

Standing and fully recovered, Laura casually walked between Elizabeth and Barbossa and pulled out two of her three guns (she had managed to recover the ones from Singapore). Within seconds, Jack, Elizabeth, Laura, Barbossa, Gibbs, and Will were standing in a circle, two guns each, and pointing the weapons at the people next to them.

Momentarily, they all began laughing and lowering there pistols before getting serious again.

"All right, then," Barbossa began. "The Brethren Court's a-gatherin' at Shipwreck Cove. And Jack, you and I are a-goin', and there'll be no arguin' that point."

"I is arguin' the point," Jack countered. "If there's pirates a-gatherin', I'm pointing my ship the other way."

"The pirates are gathering to fight Beckett," Elizabeth put in, "and you're a pirate."

"Fight or not," Will said, "you're not running, Jack."

"And who's going to stop him?" Laura pointed out, abandoning her aim at Elizabeth for Will. "Not me. In fact, I just may help him if he decides to run. Course, on the other hand, I may also be a great help in keeping him from doing so. It depends on what mood I'll be in when the time comes."

"If we don't stand together," Barbossa continued, "they'll hunt us down one by one, till there be none left, but you, Jack."

"I quite like the sound of that," the captain commented. "Captain Jack Sparrow, the last pirate."

"Aye, and you'll be fightin' Jones alone. And how does that figure into your plan?"

"I'm still working on that. But I'll not be going back to the locker, mate, count on that."

Everyone then tried firing their pistols at each other, with no success. Of course, Laura once again aimed her right-hand pistol at Elizabeth prior to discovering the failure.

"Wet powder," Gibbs stated.

Laura laughed as all of the pirates surrounded Will, who was sitting down to study the charts.

"There's a freshwater spring on this island," he said, pointing to an island on the map, which happened to be the island they had agreed to meet Sao Feng at. "We can resupply there, and get back to shooting each other later."

"You can lead the shore party, and I'll stay with my ship," Jack told Barbossa, who argued,

"I'll not be leaving my ship in your command."

Standing, Will suggested,

"Why don't you both go ashore and leave the ship in my command…temporarily."

After the landing party had left, Laura waited until Will was alone before nearing him.

He had apparently heard her soft-footed approach as he addressed her,

"You've been rather quiet lately, Laura."

The girl simply shrugged while stationing herself next to her brother, staring at the horizon. Ever since Laura's family had come back into the picture, life wasn't the same. She felt weighed down by the responsibility of trying to protect her brother, and Jack hid more information from her than ever.

"I don't think I can do this, Will," she quietly said.

Receiving a raised eyebrow from her sibling, she continued.

"For over five years, I traveled with Jack. You and father had abandoned me. He was the only one who seemed to care. Now, I'm torn…" She had to bite back sob and take control of her emotion before continuing. "…between betraying Jack and leaving you to fulfill our promise to father by yourself."

"I am going save our father, Laura," Will almost coldly replied, "with or without your help."

He then walked away, leaving the young woman more confused and helpless than ever. The girl strode to the railing, gripping the wood so hard that her hands turned white. She had just spotted Sao Feng's ship approaching the _Pearl_.

As the foreign craft came close enough to decipher the crewman scurrying around on it, Laura slipped down below decks in search of rum. To her dismay, the only drink she found was a quarter-filled bottle, covered in dust. Deciding that it was better than nothing, the piratess quickly drained it prior to jogging back up the stairs. Two pairs of gripping arms met her own as she reached the deck.

"Will? What's going on?" Laura questioned the other Turner as she looked around at the other crewmembers, including the landing party, which had returned.

"I'm sorry, Laura," Will whispered, coming nearer to her, "but, if you can't make up your mind, this is how it's going to have to be."

"Laura Lark…" Sao Feng began as he neared her, "too bad I made prior arrangements. I would have liked to remove your head myself."

"Oh," the girl casually replied, seeing a British ship on the horizon, "sorry to disappoint."

"He needs the _Pearl_!" Jack exclaimed as though Laura had arrived in the middle of a conversation. "Captain Turner needs the _Pearl_! And you felt guilty. And you and your Brethren Court! Did no one come to save me just because they missed me?"

When Gibbs, Marty, Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton, and Jack the monkey raised their hands, he continued,

"I'm standing over there with them," before being pulled back by Sao Feng.

"I'm sorry, Jack," the pirate stated, facing the captain in the direction of the British craft, "but there's an old friend who wants to see you first."

"I'm not certain I can survive any more visits from old friends," Jack responded.

"Here's your chance to find out."

As the English boarded and several of them began leading Laura and Jack onto the other vessel, the girl looked over her shoulder to Will.

"Well," she said, "it seems the odds were against me anyway."

On the ship, the _Endeavor_, the two pirates were shoved into the captain's quarters and the doors shut behind them.

"It's curious," a familiar voice began from a desk at the other end of the room. "Your friends appear to be quite desperate, Jack. Perhaps they no longer believe that a gathering of squabbling pirates is enough to take down the _Flying Dutchman_."

Laura began looking through cupboards and boxes around the room with Jack as the Beckett, the owner of the voice continued.

"And so despair leads to betrayal. But you and I are no strangers to betrayal, are we Jack? It isn't here, Jack."

"What? What isn't?" the captain questioned while Laura gleefully discovered a cache of rum in one of the drawers.

"The heart of Davy Jones. It's safely aboard the _Dutchman_, and so unavailable for use as leverage to satisfy your debt to the good Captain."

"By my reckoning," Jack countered, "that account has been settled."

"By your death?" Beckett queried. "And yet, here you are."

"Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by."

"And if Davy Jones were to learn of your survival? Perhaps you would consider an alternate arrangement, one that requires absolutely nothing from you but information."

-Hmm, what happened to the revenge-seeking Beckett? He's probably just getting whatever he can before sending both of us off to be hanged. Actually, that might work. Jack and I escape from jail, we disappear, and go back to how everything was before. Ha, wishful thinking-

"Regarding the Brethren Court, no doubt?" Jack was saying. "In exchange for fair compensation, square my debt with Jones, guarantee my freedom?"

"Of course. It's just good business," Beckett replied before turning to Laura, who had been trying to blend into the furniture. "Do not worry, Miss Lark, you have not been forgotten. The deal is for you as well."

The girl didn't even bother with correcting the man on her proper name.

"Sorry, mate," she answered, trying to resist the urge to pull her rolled-up sleeve back down to cover her brand, "but one dealing with you is enough for a lifetime."

"Oh," Beckett faked shock, "very well, then."

"Were I in a divulgatory mood," Jack continued, "what then might I divulge?"

"Everything," Beckett whispered. "Where are they meeting? Who are the pirate lords? What is the purpose of the nine pieces of eight?"

"Jack," Laura warned the self-preserving captain.

"You can keep Barbossa," the man replied, "the belligerent homunculus and his friend with the wooden eye both, and Turner…especially Turner."

"Jack!" the girl exclaimed.

"Both Turners," Jack added after this, causing Beckett to raise an eyebrow at the new information. "The rest go with me aboard the _Pearl_, and I will lead you to Shipwreck Cove, where I will hand you the pirates and you will NOT hand me to Jones. Bloody fair deal, don't you think?"

"And what becomes of Miss Swann?" the Brit further questioned.

"What interest is she to you?"

"Jack! I've just recalled, I have this wonderful compass which points to whatever I want. So for what do I need you?" Beckett queried.

"It points to what you want most, and that's not the Brethren Court, is it?"

Laura was slowly inching her way towards the door before stopping.

-Am I crazy? Any escape attempt without Jack, and I'm as good as caught…or, better yet, dead-

"Then what is?"

"Me…dead."

"Although if I kill you, then I can use the compass to find…Shipwreck Cove, was it? Cut out the middleman, as it were."

"With me killed," Jack countered, "you'd arrive at Shipwreck Cove, find its stronghold nigh impregnable, able to withstand blockade for years, and then you'd wish, 'Oh, if only there were someone I had not killed inside to assure that the pirates then come outside'…"

"And you can accomplish all this, can you?"

"You may kill me, but you may never insult me," Jack responded. "Who am I?"

When Beckett stuttered, he continued,

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!"

Suddenly, cannon fire was heard as an explosion shook the ship. Shaking Beckett's hand, Jack said,

"Done!" before running off with Laura close behind him.

The two guards were easily subdued as the captain hit them both in the head with the cabin doors.

"Jack, you're a genius!" Laura commented as her friend loaded a cannon and strapped a rope to it so that it would propel him upwards once fired.

"You're mad!" Becket stated, to which Jack replied,

"Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work."

Then, Laura's heart dropped as the captain set off the cannon and vaulted off of the deck. She was remembering all of the times he had flown, jumped, or lifted off of something to escaped tight situations. The only difference from this time was that he had always grabbed her by the waist at the last second. All of these thoughts flew through the girl's head as she dove into the water with British guns shooting at her. Laura didn't realize until she was already climbing the _Pearl's_ ladder that one of the bullets had grazed her right upper arm.

"Send this pestilent traitorous cow-hearted yeast codpiece to the brig," Jack was telling the crewmen while looking at Will.

As Laura climbed the rest of the way onto the deck, slightly favoring her right arm, she caught the eye of the captain.

"As for you," he addressed her, "were my ears tricking me? Or were you in on his little scheme?"

"Well," the girl began, "it depends on what you mean by…" Jack interrupted her saying,

"I'll take that as a yes. And I thought I knew you. Gentlemen, do us a favor and bring this mutinous stammering miscreant down for a visit with her dear brother."

"Ah, easy," Laura complained as two of the crewmen grabbed her arms, the one on her right just happening to place his hand on the gunshot wound.

"My, what a nice grip you got, there," the girl continued as she was shoved off to the brig.

In the cell, Laura glared at the retreating backs of the two pirates as they left. When their steps retreated up the stairs, she burst out,

"That is the last time I hide my emotions! AND the last time I EVER trust ANYONE! Especially if his name is CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW!"

To emphasize the last part, she punched the door, instantly regretting it as pain shot into her shoulder. Apparently, Will heard her small moan, since he came over to her with slight concern in his eyes. Laura reluctantly allowed her brother to remove the hand she was using to hold her shoulder. Blood covered the sleeve of her trench coat and white shirt (before the search for Jack, she had exchanged her maroon one for it).

"It's fine," she argued, shoving his probing hand away.

"I just want to see how bad it is," he countered, but not trying to touch her arm again.

"I'm the one who's injured, and I can tell that it's fine," she growled.

"At least let me stop the bleeding," the young man almost begged.

Reverting her eyes for a moment, Laura finally walked to the bench, removed her trench, and began ripping the sleeves of her shirt off. When Will cocked his head, she answered the unspoken question.

"You'll need something to wrap my arm with…and I'd prefer to not walk around with blood on my shirt."

The older sibling then tore a strip from one of the sleeves and tightly, but gently, wrapped Laura's arm.

"I'm…sorry about what's happening between you and Elizabeth," the girl softly said. "I think I am qualified enough to say that, now. I wasn't a year ago, but, with everything that has been occurring with Jack…" Her words trailed off as she lost her train of thought.

"You have no reason to apologize, Laura," he replied. "It was of no fault of your own that Elizabeth and I have drifted apart."

"But," the girl countered, "if I had never come back into your life, neither of you would have had reason to drift apart. It was because I trusted Jack that we came to Port Royal in the first place. I could have made him go somewhere else, made him get the _Pearl _back some other way."

"Laura," Will nearly scolded, "I told you, it wasn't your fault. Even if you and Jack had gone somewhere other than Port Royal, nothing would have changed. In fact, Elizabeth probably never would have realized my love for her if you and Jack hadn't come along. It was probably a good thing that you came, as Barbossa arrived without your intervention. Actually, I would most likely be dead without having had Jack's help in rescuing her."

"Would be? Might have? Even if? Probably? You assume too much, Will," Laura said, smiling weakly as she stood.

"Would you rather have me tell you that you're right and that it's all your fault?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"My dear sister," the man responded, standing in front of the young woman, "you may be a Turner and have the natural tendency to feel responsible for the ones you love, but you just found out less than a year ago that you have more than a single pirate captain to worry about. Don't take on that burden too fast."

The piratess gladly accepted the hug her brother offered. It felt wonderful to not be as alone in the world as she had believed for so long.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Now, if you're going to follow through with your scheme that I suspect you have been planning, you're going to need my help. The doors are half-pin barrel, so you should have no trouble in opening them."

Laura snatched her trench coat and donned it as Will busted the door open.

"Time to finish this little adventure!" she cheerfully stated.

Thanks for reading! Please, R&R. I SO enjoy hearing your comments AND compliments.


	16. But is it Love?

Thanks LM1991 and Kairi's-twin for your reviews!

But is it Love?

"I'll catch up with you momentarily," Laura quietly called to her brother as he headed up to the deck, before muttering to herself, "Now, time to satisfy a desperate rum craving."

Remembering that the captain usually kept a stash of rum hidden away in his cabin, she cautiously began creeping towards the room she had casually strolled to so many times before…until she happened to nearly trip on a sleeping crewmember clutching a half-filled rum bottle in his hand.

-Hmm, perfect timing-

After working the bottle out of the man's grasp without waking him, Laura walked to the bow, where she knew her brother would be.

"What took you so long?" he whispered while beginning to tie a British body to a barrel before noticing the rum in her hands. "The sun has barely set, and you're already finding the last of the rum from when we were attacked by Kraken."

"Oh, so that's why I had such trouble finding some earlier."

Will rolled his eyes at his sister's piratey attitude. Grinning, the girl aided her brother in making a breadcrumb trail for her sworn enemy with the thought that she had nothing to lose.

A few hours later, the twins had made considerable progress in their work. Surprisingly, they hadn't been caught. Then, while Laura was dragging the next British body over to Will while he was finishing off another barrel, they heard Jack's voice come from nearby.

"Bravo, you escaped the brig even quicker than I expected." The man continued while strolling towards them on the mast he had been perched on. "William, do you notice something? Or rather do you notice something that is not there to be noted?"

"You haven't raised an alarm," Will pointed out.

"Odd, isn't it?" the captain asked before pointing at the body draped over the barrel. "But not as odd as this. Come up with this all by your lonesome, did you? Or did my former colleague pitch in on the fine details."

As Laura opened her mouth for a smart retort, Will replied,

"I said to myself, think like Jack."

"And this is what you've arrived at? Lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove so as to gain his trust, accomplish your own ends? It's like you don't know me at all, mate. And how does your dearly beloved feel about this?"

Laura gave up trying to defend herself, and simply listened to the conversation as Will hesitated in responding.

"Ah," Jack continued, "you've not seen fit to trust her with it."

"I'm losing her Jack," the older Turner confided. "Every step I take for my father is a step away from Elizabeth."

"Mate, if you choose to lock your heart away, you'll lose her for certain. If I may lend a machete to your intellectual thicket, avoid the choice altogether. Change the facts. Let someone else dispatch Jones."

"Who? You?"

"Death has a curious way of reshuffling one's priorities. I'll slip aboard the _Dutchman_, find the heart, stab the beating thing, your father goes free, and you're free to be with your charming murderess."

"And you're willing to carve out your heart and bind yourself to the _Dutchman_, forever."

"No mate, I'm free forever. Free to sail the seas beyond the edges of the map, free from death itself."

-Why do I not stop him from having that line of thinking? If I feel for him the way people suspect…unless I don't really have those sort of feelings for him. Anyone who's spent years in the companionship of one man has to have some sort of attachment. Maybe that's all it is, meaning I should feel no need to protect him. He can take care of himself like he has in the past. Oh dear, is that true or am I just trying to convince myself that he is not more than just a friend-

"You've got to do the job though, Jack," Will was arguing. "You have to ferry souls to the next world. Or end up just like Jones."

"I don't have the face for tentacles. But immortal has to count for something, eh? Oh!"

At this, Jack handed his compass to Will.

"What's this for?"

"Think like me it'll come to you."

The captain proceeded to breath in Will's face, causing the young man to fall overboard. He then turned to Laura.

"Well, aren't you going to go after your dear brother, or shall I sound the alarm?"

Ignoring the rum scent on the captain's breath, the girl stood directly in front of him.

"Try being me, Jack," she said, avoiding the temptation to either slap him or kiss him. Either one would have been equally effective, but, she instead jumped over the side after Jack pushed the barrel into the water.

"My regards to Davy Jones!" the captain called down to them as the _Pearl _sped away.

"I hate him," Will growled while clinging to the barrel.

"I noticed that," Laura added, "however, I don't know how much I can agree with you at the moment, so let's put a hold on that, shall we?"

--

Over an hour later, they were picked up by the _Endeavor_. Will was politely ushered into the Captain's Cabin, while Laura was, of course, pushed off to the brig without even a blink from her brother to show an objection. Once in her cell, the piratess simply sighed and sat down after noting that the doors had half-pin barrel hinges.

-No harm in taking advantage of a little quiet. To set my priorities straight, I have to help set my father free…that is obvious. Now I can figure out what my feelings for Jack really are-

When the light coming from the upper deck ceased to exist, Laura easily broke out of her jail, crept up the stairs, and hid in a dark corner of the ship, waiting to see where it was going.

--

The girl awoke soon after sunrise to see from her hiding place that Will and Beckett were climbing into a boat. Sneaking down a ladder and into the water, she ignored the yells of alarm over her escape, continuing to swim to the small island some distance from the ship. By the time Laura reached the spit of land which was the neutral ground for the two sides, the representatives of both divisions were already conversating. Will, Beckett, and, to Laura's dismay, Jones were on the British side, while Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Jack stood for the pirates.

"…If you wish to see its grand architect," Beckett was telling the pirates, "look to your left."

"My hands are clean in this," Jack defended, "…figuratively."

"My actions were my own and to my own purpose," Will stated as Laura walked over to the group and stood next to Jack. "Jack had nothing to do with it."

"Well spoke, listen to the tool," the captain said, looking at Laura. "What are you doing here?"

"Will," Elizabeth interrupted, "I've been aboard the _Dutchman_, I understand the burden you and Laura bear, but I fear that cause is lost."

"No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it," Will replied.

"If Turner was not acting on your behalf, then how did he come to give me this?" Beckett questioned, holding up the compass. "You made a deal with me, Jack, to deliver the pirates, and here they are. Don't be bashful, step, claim your reward."

As Beckett tossed the compass to Jack, Jones put in,

"Your debt to me is still to be satisfied. One hundred years in service aboard the _Dutchman_. As a start. As for you, Laura Lark Turner, I intend to have you serving right alongside your precious captain for all the trouble you've caused."

"That debt was paid, mate, with some help," Jack put in, motioning to Elizabeth."

"You escaped!"

"Technically…"

"I propose an exchange," Elizabeth interrupted. "Will leaves with us, and you can take both Jack and Laura."

"Done," Will said followed by Jack.

"Undone."

"Done," Beckett differed.

"Undone," Laura snapped.

"Done," Jones finalized, grinning gleefully at his achievement.

"Jack is one of the nine pirate lords, you have no right…" Barbossa argued to Elizabeth prior to her interrupting.

"King."

"As you command," Jack submitted, removing his hat and bowing to the woman.

Yelling, Barbossa unsheathed his sword and sliced Jack's piece of eight from his bandanna.

"What was THAT for?" Laura asked as Barbossa addressed Jack.

"If you be sayin' something, I might be sayin' something as well."

"First to the finish, then?" Jack questioned.

Laura and the captain proceeded to switch places with Will. Beckett stepped to the side, forcing Jack to stand next to Davy with Laura next to him.  
"Ah, Beckett, we meet again," she said to the man on her right.

While Davy was speaking to Jack, Beckett went on talking to the pirates. "Advise your brethren, you can fight and all of you will die, or you can not fight in which case only most of you will die."

"You murdered my father," Elizabeth pointed out, to which the Brit replied,

"He chose his own fate."

"And you have chosen yours. We will fight, and you will die."

"So be it," he relented prior to saying to Laura, "There is still a chance we can come to some sort of arrangement, you and I, which would keep you out of the hands of Davy Jones."

"Would anything I do save Jack?" she asked. When the other man simply cleared his throat, she added, "I thought so," before climbing into the boat with Jack.

--

In the _Flying Dutchman_'s brig Laura sat down, closed her eyes, and tried to decipher what Will's scheme was that caused her to end up in the brig as Jack began talking to himself once again.

"Bravo! You've successfully arrived aboard the _Flying Dutchman_ as per the overall scheme. Oh, yes, chapeau, mate. Except for this little sojourn in the brig, everything's like clockwork. Go away! Or back to the locker? But without you, Jackie? Stab the heart, and live forever, as captain of the _Flying Dutchman_. Then again, if you're in the brig, who's to stab the heart? It does put immortality a bit out of reach. Peanut. What about your dear friend, Jackie? Do you plan on getting her out of this mess as well? Well, she hasn't exactly been very helpful as of late. Yes, but have you noticed that she has always acted different around you than anyone else? You have a point, there. Now, to get out of here…"

-Dear friend? Her? She? Was he talking about me?-

"Think like whelp…think like the whelp…think like the whelp…half barrel hinges…leverage! Wish me luck boys, I'll need it," he called after busting the door open and running out.

"Jack!" Laura called to him, causing the captain to stop ten feet from the prison door. "You're a genius."

Softly kissing him on the cheek, she proceeded to walk past Jack, momentarily leaving him stunned by her action.

As always, thanks for reading. Please, R&R.


	17. For Family

Thanks kit9888 and Kairi's-twin for your reviews!

For Family

Managing to sneak into the Captain's Cabin where the British were guarding the heart, Laura and Jack began to collect their effects, which happened to be in the same room.

"Hold it or I'll shoot!" one of the two soldiers, Mullroy, demanded, pointing his small cannon at Jack.

"Good one," the captain commented after a hole was blown through the wall by a cannon outside. "I just came to get me effects. Admirable though it may be, why are you here when you could be elsewhere?"

"Someone has to stay and guard the chest," the other officer, Murtogg, replied, aiming his own weapon back at the heart.

"There is no question," Mullroy stated to his colleague, "there has been a breakdown in military discipline aboard this vessel."

"I blame the fish people."

"Oh! So fish people, by dint of being fish people, automatically aren't as disciplined as non-fish people?"

Jack snuck up between the arguing Brits and quickly grabbed the chest without their notice. He then quietly strode out the door, closely followed by his companion.

"Seems contributory, is all I'm suggesting," Laura last heard of the redcoats continuing their bickering. Creeping onto the deck, Jack and Laura were suddenly confronted by Jones and several of his crewmen.

"Lookie here, boys," the fishy captain noted. "Two lost birds. Two lost birds that never learned to fly."

"To my great regret," Jack replied, making eye contact with Laura, who nodded in response while shifting towards the ship's side. "But never too late to learn, eh?"

At this, the infamous pirate grabbed a rope and knocked it loose, catapulting him into the air.

"Bye, Jack," the girl whispered, watching her superior disappear up into the fog.

-He's probably wondering why I didn't grab onto him last minute. I have to find Will-

After getting away from the fish-men for a moment (Jones had vanished), she was able to take a respite and look at her surroundings. The _Flying Dutchman_ and the _Black Pearl_ were locked in battle near the center of a maelstrom. People from both sides were on each ship fighting each other. Following several minutes of stabbing and pushing her enemies over the side, Laura spotted Will landing on the _Dutchman_'s deck via a swinging rope.

"Turner!" one of the fish-men yelled at Will prior to attempting an attack. Unfortunately for the foe, Jack the monkey came flying out of nowhere and latched onto the pirate's face, causing him to fall over.

"Thank you, Jack," the older twin said.

In the middle of challenging another crewman, Laura called to her brother,

"Will, it's good to see that you finally made it!"

Suddenly, her joy turned to worry as Bootstrap attacked Will. Before the girl could go to her brother's aid, she was assaulted by two more enemies. Eliminating the threat they posed, the Laura's eyes fell upon Elizabeth landing on the deck…with Jones in front of her. Internal conflict instantly commenced.

-I have to help Will and keep my promise to my father, but he'll be furious if let Elizabeth die. Oh, sometimes I hate being me!-

"All right then!" Davy was saying to Elizabeth. "You'll receive no mercy from me!"

"That's why I brought this!" the woman answered, pulling her sword out of its sheath.

"Jones!" Laura called after the other woman had been knocked down by Davy and his sword was raised for the final blow.

"Ha! Come to join me crew, lassie?" he asked.

"No, I'm just not prepared to let you ruin the lives of my remaining family."

The ferocious battle between the two foes lasted for only a few seconds before Jones lashed out with his claw and hit Laura in the back of the head, causing her to collapse. Trying to ignore the pain in the back of her head, the piratess saw Davy looming over her.

"You always were stubborn," he said, grinning cruelly as he drew a second sword. It had silver in handle and the initials L.L.T. etched on the blade; the sword that Laura had made during her short time as a blacksmith's apprentice in Tortuga. "Does this look familiar?"

The young woman cried out in agony as her own old sword's blade pierced her chest. As she struggled to stay conscious, Laura saw Jones get stabbed from behind by Will.

"Mister, did you forget? I'm a heartless wretch," Davy said prior to kicking Will over. When her vision blurred, the younger sibling relied on her hearing to keep trying to pay attention. "Ah, love. A dreadful bond. And yet so easily severed. Tell me, William Turner, do you fear death?"

"Do you?" Jack asked all of a sudden. "Heady tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand."

"You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow."

"Cruel is a matter of perspective."

"Is it, now?"

Laura forced her eyes to open when she heard Will gasp in pain.

-No-

"Will! Will!" Elizabeth was yelling. Everything else the woman said faded into the background as the infamous piratess witnessed Davy Jones writhe in pain and fall over the side of the ship.

"It's over," Laura whispered. Smiling weakly, she closed her eyes and let herself slip away into the welcoming darkness.

--

Her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she noted was that all of her pain was gone. Then, she saw Will standing next to her. That was when she realized that they were underwater.

-I'm breathing underwater?!-

Grabbing the hand of his sister, the older Turner dragged Laura up to the helm and began steering the ship with the girl clinging to the railing. The _Flying Dutchman_ then burst out of the water, sea-growth dropping from it and the crew, leaving them in their original state. While Will was bringing the ship towards the _Endeavor_, calling out to the crew,

"Ready the guns!" Laura looked at his chest and at the almost fresh-looking cut. Glancing down at her own torso and moving the collar aside, she saw a similar mark.

"Will, do you mind telling me what this is about?" she questioned him.

The _Pearl_ was sailing vertically with the _Dutchman_ on either side of the British vessel.

"Fire!" Will called to the crew. While the enemy was being blown to pieces, he looked at his sister. "I died; father cut out my heart and made me captain of the _Dutchman_. I couldn't just leave you the way you were. You did, after all, save Elizabeth. So, I asked for father's help and he revealed that I could cut your heart out as well…and bind you to the _Dutchman_."

"I understand. So that means that my fate is bound to yours."

"…yes."

"Well then, Elizabeth is gonna pay if she's unfaithful…and I don't mean by you."

As the _Endeavor _exploded, Will slightly laughed, however, they soon lost their sense of humor when the mood of the situation descended upon them. A few minutes later, Will was staring off at Elizabeth on the _Pearl_. She was staring right back.

"During the fight," he said to his sister nearby, "Barbossa married us."

Knowing that Will was obviously talking about himself and Elizabeth, Laura sympathetically put a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Go to her, Will. You still have until tomorrow evening before we have to leave and most of Shipwreck Island is secluded."

"What will you do until tomorrow?"

"I have a few ideas."

"Orders, sir," Bootstrap requested, approaching them. His memory had not returned.

"You're no longer bound to the _Dutchman_," Will replied. "You're free."

"Aye, that's a fine thing, but, by my reckoning, I still have a debt that has to be paid…if you and your first mate will have me."

Laura smiled at her new title while her brother answered,

"On the wheel, then, Mr. Turner."

"Aye, Captain Turner." When he saw Will continuing to stare at Elizabeth, he went on, "This ship has a purpose again, and where we are bound, she cannot come. One day ashore, ten years at sea. It's a steep price for what's been done."

"Depends on the one day."

"Go," Laura coaxed.

After Will left, she climbed down the ladder, leaving the _Dutchman_ under Bootstrap's command, and swam over to her beloved _Pearl_. Still on the ladder, she fondly caressed the ship's side.

-At least ten years before I'll see this vessel again-

On the ship's deck, the piratess was met by Gibbs, along with most of the crew; however, Jack was not among them.

"Come to say goodbye to your old friends, Miss Turner?" the first mate queried with a hint of a smile.

"When do you plan on leaving, Mr. Gibbs?" the girl asked him.

"Some time after sunrise tomorrow."

"Good. I've always wanted to watch the stars on this ship's deck, and now I have my chance."

"Miss Turner," Barbossa addressed her, "as much as I despised ye, I have to admit that I always had a slight admiration for ye."

"Thank you, Barbossa," she replied as the crew dispersed, leaving her to finger the boards and railings of the craft she had called home for some time.

-It was Jack's obsession, that's why I love it so-

Laura walked to the port side of the ship to watch the sunset. The crewmen respectfully walked to another part of the ship, leaving her in utter silence.

--

That night, on the deck at the bow, Laura lay on her back staring at the countless stars.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, we loot, drink up, me hearties, yo ho…" She interrupted as Jack sang,

"…and really bad eggs. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho."

"I was wondering when you were going to show up."

The captain lightly laughed.

"I was wondering when you were going to come yell at me."

The two friends chuckled together.

"Jack, you know how I feel about you by now, right?"

"Of course, luv. For some time now, in fact."

Standing, Laura leaned her head against Jack's shoulder while they both stared at the stars.

"Ten years from now, my fate will not depend on you; however I do wish to know whether I am your only real love…your love will mean nothing to me if there is someone else."

At this, she faced the captain, who casually replied,

"You know me well enough. What do you think?"

"I can't judge you for what I've seen, since you've always been so unpredictable."

"Very well, then I will answer you this: you will always be the only one I truly love."

Laura was slightly shocked at Jack's earnestness, but she calmly responded,

"I will hold you to that ten years from now."

Gently kissing her captain on the cheek, the young Turner forced herself to return to the _Dutchman_ without looking back.

--

Throughout the next day, Laura settled her position as the new first mate. For the rest of the evening, she gazed at the horizon in the direction of the _Pearl_ until Will returned at sunset.

"Time to go, I suppose?" she asked her brother.

"Yes," he replied with slight emotion in his voice.

-Now, to resign myself to a new life-

As the sky flashed green, they began their first trip of ferrying the souls to the next world.

Thanks for reading. I still have one more chapter to go which will explain Laura's future. Please review and give me advice on what she should do after her release from the _Dutchman_…don't ask, I'm just going with an idea I found online which involves Calypso freeing Will ten years later. I will, however, start it tomorrow (Oct. 20) evening, so that will be the time limit for advice. I really appreciate it.


	18. Home

Thanks Kairi's-twin and kit9888 for your reviews and advice!

Home

(Ten years later)

Laura smiled from the bow as the sky flashed green, bringing the _Dutchman_ back to the world she had grown up in. Will was on the rope ladder, looking at the mass of land ahead. Two figures could be seen on the beach.

Walking onto the beach beside her brother, the piratess stayed where the water still seeped into her boots while Will ran up to Elizabeth and the nine or ten year old boy next to her.

"Laura, come on!" Will called behind him as he walked off with his family. Laura simply stared at her shoes and the sand beneath them. It had been ten years since her feet had last touched the earth. Suddenly, Tia Dalma stood in front of her.

"Alright, now I know that I've lost it," Laura said to herself.

"It is me, Laura Turner," the woman encouraging replied, smiling.

"Tia…I mean, Calypso, what a pleasant surprise!"

"You are free."

"Now I'm certain that I'm imagining things."

"Mrs. Turner was faithful. You are free."

"No joking?" Laura asked before a sense of release swept over her. "Ok, I believe you. Thank you."

"You must first, however, find someone to replace you before sunset tomorrow, or you, Laura Turner, will be bound to the _Dutchman_ for ten more years."

"Oh, well in that case, I'd better get to it, eh?"

Nodding, Calypso disappeared, leaving Laura to race to the closest settlement a mile away. In the town, she managed to find a married man who was dying of some unknown disease and willing to bind himself to the _Dutchman_. By the next evening, the girl was sitting on the beach, watching the ship sailing away. Will approached with his wife and son…then his gaze fell on the departing _Dutchman_.

"I thought I'd wait to tell you until this happened. We're free. Calypso freed us…after I found a replacement. Don't worry, he was dying anyway and needed a getaway."

After gaping for a moment, Will stuttered,

"We're…"

"Yes, we're free Will."

"What will you do?" Elizabeth asked. She was no longer the stubborn lady of ten years before, but she was nevertheless still a man-drawing magnet. "You can always stay with us."

"I don't know," the girl replied. "Perhaps I will stay with you and get to know my nephew, but after being on the _Dutchman_ for so long, I think I need a little adventure."

The couple exchanged glances.

"There's always going to find Jack," Will suggested.

Laura grinned at the idea as the ship on the horizon disappeared in the green flash.

"In that case, farewell."

"But, couldn't you stay tonight?" Elizabeth queried.

"I'm afraid not, Lizzie," the piratess responded. "Freedom is calling me and it is too hard to resist."

"Very well," the other woman relented, "but do visit soon."

Taking a deep breath, Laura strolled off towards the bay, where several ships lay.

"All I have to do is sneak onto a ship and start at Tortuga."

--

Three days later, the woman had nearly given up on Jack's favorite town, so she decided to sit in the tavern for most of her last night there.

"…and then I stabbed the heart, rescued the damsel, and saved the day," the rough, light-hearted voice of a man was finishing, receiving a roar of applause from the small crowd of women which surrounded him. As the group parted, Laura's jaw dropped at what she saw: Jack Sparrow sitting at a table with Gibbs and totally oblivious to her presence. Sneaking up on the captain as Gibbs purposefully did not look at her, for fear of ruining her trick, the girl whispered next to his ear,

"Jack Sparrow, do you fear death?"

Choking on the rum he was chugging, Jack hesitantly turned around. His eyes nearly popped out of his head from the shock.

"Laura? Laura Lark Turner, could that possibly be you?"

"As far as I can tell," she gleefully replied.

After embracing his former comrade, the captain studied Laura's features.

"You haven't changed at all, dear girl!"

"Well, from what I have seen in the harbor, you need help getting your ship back again."

"Aye," Gibbs interrupted, "and his little attempt for the Fountain of Youth ended with its sinking."

"Then we had better get busy," the girl cheerfully concluded before Jack held her shoulders. "What is it, Jack?"

"Will you be my girl?" he questioned with all of his possible seriousness.

"If you're proposing…of course, Jack, I'll be your girl."

"At this rate, the _Pearl _is as good as found," he cried, picking his new fiancé up and twirling her around.

Laura laughed with joy. Her life was finally perfect.

Thank you everyone for reading my story. It would have probably never turned out quite so well without your advice and appreciation! My LOTR story will hopefully be starting soon. Enjoy!


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